Book extra
by Veronice
Summary: This is Book extra. It overlaps Book 9 and 10. It also overlaps the books of Valencio's story, now available with some re-writing, as original fiction. I was not intending to republish this book, but since every month, there are several readers of the first ten books, then maybe some will enjoy this as well.
1. Chapter 1

_This is Book eXtra. It overlaps Book 9 and 10. It also overlaps the books of Valencio's story, now available with some re-writing, as original fiction. I was not intending to republish this book, but since every month, there are several readers of the first ten books, then maybe some will enjoy this as well. _

_Note: Adult content_. _ In some chapters, the novel speaks of cruelty and heartbreak. In some chapters, it speaks of sex, including rape. This series of books began as fanfiction, but by this time, the child wizards called Harry Potter has grown into The Great Wizard called Henry Bellamy. There is little left that belongs to J. K. Rowling. __Terms used__: The technical term for Wizardkind is Anirage. _

**x**

_Chapter 1:_

Two little girls raced through the gardens of their home. There were cool courtyards, swimming pools, fruit trees, flowers, and everywhere, inside and outside, the cooling sound of running water. It was in desert country, in Morocco. But the Compound was large, and its occupants very wealthy. There was never a need to come into contact with the desolation outside, or to see the slums of the nearby city. Bouchra and Kichi wore only skimpy light tunics of a thin material in the noon day heat.

Kichi whispered, "There's a new one in the dirt-people enclosure, a white girl."

Bouchra hesitated, "We're not allowed near there."

Kichi pointed, "If we climb the orange tree..."

Bouchra grinned, and the six-year-old cousins slipped around behind a neatly trimmed hedge, and climbed the tree. They waited, watching a while, as the dirt-people wandered behind the high fence. The large enclosure had a section of garden to themselves, as well tended as that for the Family. Bouchra suddenly pointed, "Look!"

A blonde child, not much older than themselves, held tightly to the hand of an older girl, who looked pure Arabic. The cousins had seen white people before, when they'd been taken to Paris for a few months. All in that section were girls and young women. Most were Arabic, or Oriental, but a few were very black, from the Sudan.

There was another section behind the first enclosure, but the prisoners there were older, and used for different purposes, and yet a third, with no communication to the first two enclosures. It was usually empty.

The girls jumped and looked around guiltily, but it was only eleven year old Adil. "You know what they're for, don't you?" he said.

The girls looked at each other. They'd never asked. They were just the dirt-people. There were always some here, a score or so girls here, and more in the second enclosure, almost out of sight.

"The new one's for Ahjmed, and no-one's allowed to touch her until his return."

Bouchra asked, "But what does he want a dirt-person for?"

Adil hesitated. He wasn't actually quite sure. But he didn't admit that, instead saying airily, "That's men's business, not for little girls to know."

Bouchra said sturdily, "We didn't want to know, and anyway, I don't think you know either."

Adil threatened, "I'll tell on you for looking if you stay one more minute."

The girls scrambled down the tree, Kichi tearing her clothing, and ran.

Adil stayed and watched the girls and young women. He may not have known exactly what they were for, but at the age of Sorting, some time before he turned thirteen, he'd be promoted to the men's quarters, and then he suspected he'd find out.

Every morning, the girls had to go to lessons, along with all the other children, boys and girls, aged from three to ten. On their tenth birthday, they would be taken to the wand-makers to be supplied with their own wands, and would then join afternoon classes instead, where they would learn to work magic. Their teacher was a Japanese woman, her name Aichi. She smiled at the twelve children who sat respectfully in front of her. "Next week, we go to England for three months in order to practise English."

Bouchra and Kichi sat next to each other. They were best friends, and were seldom apart. Bouchra raised a hand, and spoke very respectfully, "Like when we were in Paris?"

Aichi nodded. "Like that. But today there's something else special. Grandmother Riza is going to talk to you."

The children became very solemn. Grandmother Riza was one of the most senior members of the Family, Khatabi-Vrie, second only to Nahoko, who was in charge of the breeding programme. She had to be treated with utmost respect.

Before the old woman visited, Aichi took them through their lesson. The dirt-people. Individually, they could be treated with contempt. But the lesson was repeated again and again throughout their schooling. There were an enormous number of dirt-people, and they could be dangerous. And there were hints of dreadful things that had happened in the past, "But Nezha will tell you about that, when you're older." Nezha taught the ten to thirteen year olds.

Grandmother Riza was accompanied by a younger woman, whom Riza didn't bother introducing to the children. Instead, one by one, she spoke briefly to the children, almost like a test. But the children were apt to stare, and answer in monosyllables. Then they were instructed to stay still, as the other woman touched a sensor to their forehead, and noted down a figure.

Kichi immediately followed Bouchra, and Riochi made an exclamation. Riza glanced at the little girl, and then nodded. "Just make a note."

The children were let out early.

"What do you think they were doing?" said Bouchra, slightly worried.

But Kichi shrugged blithely, "It didn't hurt."

Bouchra smiled, reassured, and agreed. "It didn't hurt."

There was a lavish lunch provided, as always, just the smaller children present at that setting, supervised by a servant. As she nibbled on a sweet tart, Bouchra said thoughtfully, "Ahjmed came back yesterday."

"In an hour, the older ones will be at lessons. It'll be safe enough then..."

An hour later, the girls were again perched in their tree. Kichi pointed. They could barely see, but it seemed like there might be a disturbance in the second enclosure.

Bouchra stood perilously, and squinted. "They're being lined up, I think."

"Is Quang calling numbers?"

The dirt-people were numbered, the numbers prominent on their right arms, and on their clothing, although too far away for the girls to see. They could see Enclosure 1 better, but the blonde child was nowhere to be seen. But then Kichi pointed again. Ahjmed was twenty-five, and he had a casual arm around the little girl, as he walked her back toward her enclosure. Yuri was with him, and the two men were laughing and joking. The girl was walking with difficulty, and her head was lowered.

The girls in the tree squinted, and then looked at each other. "There's blood," Kichi said.

Bouchra frowned, "If she was whipped for not being obedient, the blood would be on her back."

They stared, silent. Bouchra finally spoke slowly, "She's only a dirt-person..."

Kichi said quietly, "I think her number's 29."

The eight-year-old Swedish girl was handed to a servant with a brief word, and the two powerful wizards strolled off, laughing, jovial. The girls stayed watching, silent. After a few minutes, behind the high fence, they could see a tall dark women, walking away from the building. She was carrying the child, who clung to her, sobbing. Others touched, trying to soothe the heartbreak of a raped child.

There was a roar of fury. The girls had been discovered. Silent, frightened, they didn't dream of trying to run, or defy their elder. Instead, they were marched to the feared Disciplinarian. The gardener explained, and said, "Bouchra, daughter of Etsu, and Kichi, daughter of Kameko."

"Which is which?" and the gardener indicated.

The eyes of the Disciplinarian lingered on Kichi, and he spoke curtly, "There will be no punishment today, but change the gardens. The children should not be able to overlook the dirt-people."

The children ran as soon as released. The whippings they'd suffered at various times left no marks, but were very painful. They couldn't imagine why they'd been spared this time. They stayed away from the dirt-people enclosures, and didn't hear the protesting screams of the blonde child when she was taken back to the room of Ahjmed that evening.

**x**

When the children were assembled ready for the trip to England, Bouchra was very concerned. Where was Kichi? Why wasn't she coming? Aichi answered that Kichi was to go to Japan for a time, with her mother. Bouchra wasn't quite satisfied, and would miss her friend, but the explanation was feasible. Kichi's mother was more Japanese than Arabic, and many of the family spent as much time, or more, in Japan as they did in Morocco.

Kichi's mother did go to Japan, with Riza and Riochi. She was frightened, but like the children, she didn't dream of defying her elders. Once in Japan, she was ordered to face Riza. Riza aimed her wand, carefully enunciated the words of a spell, and Kameko clutched her lower abdomen, whimpering. There was hardly any actual pain, but it was the Nala Spell, irreversible. Kamiko had given birth to a dirt-child, and had been removed from the breeding programme. Kichi was dead, her body vanished.

Kamiko had always been obedient, and would be allowed to keep her wand and continue seeing her two younger children. But she'd lost face, and would never become an important member of the Family - still a Khatabi, as, once given, that status was seldom removed, but never Khatabi-Vrie, an elder. Her younger children would almost certainly be designated Khatabi-Richi, of the servant class.

Bouchra started spending more time with Nara, though Nara was a couple of years younger than herself. It was nearly a year before there was a visit to the Japanese Compound, where they would stay several months, until they were as fluent in Japanese as in Arabic. Kichi wasn't there, and Bouchra was rebuked harshly when she was too persistent in her questioning. All the same, it was only when she was threatened with the whip, that Bouchra stopped looking for her friend.

**x**

When Bouchra turned ten, there was a trip to Khartoum, to the shop of the wand-makers. Her very own wand in hand, she nearly strutted in her pride as she went to join the older ones for what they referred to as Junior School. Now she was going to learn magic.

Bouchra was to learn a great deal of magic in those few years, vanishing, fetching, sending away, cleaning, making things move. Part of the reason that they kept dirt-people captive became clear. They were used when the students practised 'Combat & Control,' the subjects brought to them silenced with a spell, but only if they were not sufficiently docile were their legs paralysed. The children practised on the dirt-people - tying up, paralysing them, and inflicting them with simple Vidi-curses such as Boils, or the Trembling Spell. Stunning was a little more difficult, and although Bouchra mastered it by the time she was twelve, several did not.

"When you're older," the teacher assured them. Their progress was reported to the elders. Every now and then, one of the students would be found to have sufficient power that their spells were not easily reversed. One of the more powerful Khatabis would be needed then, and the child would be carefully watched. Ahjmed had been like that, but Bouchra was not.

There was never any opportunity to talk to the dirt-people, who knew things that children, especially little girls, were not supposed to know. The dirt-people were easier to manage if they knew what was in store, and when needed, one of the guards would demonstrate, for instance, stunning one of them, and then waving a wand again, and reviving the victim. 'It's only to help the youngsters learn to defend themselves,' they'd be told. 'No-one's going to really hurt you,' and those in Enclosure 2 stayed there many years, women and an occasional man, no longer wanted in Enclosure 1.

A curious question from one of the girls about the purpose of those in Enclosure 1 was cut off abruptly. The boys kept quiet. Several had a very good idea, and they expected to find out soon enough.

There were other lessons - history, for example. They learned just how dangerous the dirt-people could be, when they combined and fought with determination. Nezha's voice was hushed as she related how Anirage had come so close to extinction. It was several hundred years before, but what they referred to as the Holocaust had been worldwide. In many areas, they had been wiped out. And Nezha looked at her students with grave eyes. "Remember, without a wand, we can do hardly any more magic than the people of the dirt."

The students nodded solemnly.

Nezha went on to reiterate the rules that had been drummed into them from infancy. _Never_ show dirt-people that magic exists. If a dirt-person accidentally witnessed magic, they must be made to forget with the memory change spell, or they could have their minds obliterated, for example, by the Cha Keeyo Curse, or the person must be killed. Do _not_ interfere in the affairs of dirt-people._ Never_, _ever__,_ bring Wizardkind to the notice of dirt-people.

Hurren asked, "What if they have wars that affect us?"

Nezha answered simply, "We move somewhere else." She continued, "Every now and then, a naive person might say that our magic could alleviate the problems suffered by other humans. Never be tempted. It only leads to trouble."

Hicham said, "Anyway, they're only dirt-people, aren't they? We do what we want with them."

Nezha nodded briefly. They were only dirt-people, but she didn't approve of the sort of casual cruelty the men indulged in.

When Bouchra approached thirteen, it was time for her group to be Sorted. Afterwards, the males and females of the family would lead largely separate lives. Instead of living with their mothers, as a rare few did, or in the Children's Rooms, looked after by servants, as the great majority did, the girls would have an apartment within the Women's Quarters, the boys in the Men's Quarters. They would no longer share lessons and would not even share meals except on special occasions.

They could talk to each other if they wanted. There were lounging areas shared by men and women, common areas of garden, and two of the swimming pools could be used by both men and women. Behind one of these, the 'Cloverleaf" swimming pool, there was a particular double row of bedrooms, where a man and a woman might sometimes meet by mutual consent. And sometimes, they'd be ordered.

There was a further division done at this time, and this one was an even deeper division than that between the boys and the girls. At this age, it was decided which of the youngsters had the required talent to be Khatabi, full members of the great Family Khatabi. The majority, however, would be designated Khatabi-Richi - servants.

There were five in the group that time, aged from twelve and a half to nearly thirteen. Three boys, Hicham, Fudo and Junichiro, and two girls, Bouchra and Hurren. A magical monitor was used to give an indication of their talent, but the results were viewed as indicative only. The reports of their teachers were held as more important, especially of their performance in 'Combat and Control.'

The verdict was made known. Fudo, Junichiro and the girl, Hurren, would be Khatabi-Richi - and those three were sterilised, painless for the boys, uncomfortable for Hurren, as the womb was vanished. The new Khatabi-Richi were supplied with robes, as adults wore, replacing the light tunics they had worn as children. The robes appeared far too heavy for the climate, but crio-magic ensured that they were still light and cool. On their right shoulder, they wore a bright yellow 'flash,' that denoted Khatabi-Richi.

They were no longer viewed as small children, and the increased status helped them accept their position as servants. For the boys, there was an additional consolation. They were shown a line-up of the women and girls of Enclosure 1. Available for sex once they were ready, and one of their first lessons was a sex education class. "Most boys are about fourteen when they start. But it's up to you. When you're ready, notify the enclosure overseer, and he'll choose an experienced woman for you."

Hicham had shown indications of enhanced power, and was accepted as Khatabi. His new robes were of a more elaborate styling than that of servants, and he would never wear stripes to indicate his status and skills. Hicham was Khatabi, would be known as Khatabi, and if he survived the inevitable fighting and duelling for long enough, might even be made Khatabi-Vrie, an Elder of the great Family Khatabi, the most feared family of Anirage in all of Arabia and Asia.

Bouchra was also accepted as Khatabi. She was intelligent, and an apt student. There were no indications of power above the average, but more women were needed than men. A man could sire many children, but a woman could only have one baby a year, and most objected to having more than three or four in a lifetime. She was moved to the women's quarters and to a new teacher for 'Intermediate' school. She was without friends, discouraged from consorting with the servant class, and discouraged from playing with the children. Her new teacher was Khatabi.

She heard about Fudo, that he had been whipped for disobedience, though she wasn't told the details. Did he not want to be sterilised? Khatabi-Richi were always sterilised. It was the way things were. The Khatabi name should not be carried by nonentities. They could leave, of course, if they chose, once the compulsory sterilisation was done, but most stayed. There was wealth to share, and they had magic, which meant that life as a Khatabi servant was not unpleasant. They could stay a lifetime if they chose, even when long past work. But they had to be unquestioningly obedient, and would be whipped if they were deemed insolent.

The Khatabi-Richi may not have had the overweening arrogance of Khatabi, but as a rule, they took a great pride in belonging to the powerful Family, and maybe because they were unable to have children themselves, most became as dedicated as the elders to the idea of breeding more and more powerful wizards.

The lessons for the girls, Khatabi-Richi and Khatabi, were in most ways similar to those of the boys. They learned to conjure, and learned history and sociology and languages. But the girls no longer saw the dirt-people. Curses were only taught in theory. None of the more wicked curses were performed in front of them, not even the Spell of Pain, regarded as basic. No-one was killed, and no bodies were callously vanished. It had long been known that girls were more unpredictable, and sometimes objected to the way things were. The boys were taught to apparate - to travel in an instant from one place to another. The girls didn't know such a thing was possible.

The teaching of Khatabi-Richi emphasised the superiority of Khatabi, and the absolute necessity to treat them with respect and unquestioning obedience. Their teacher, Ghewa Khatabi-Richi, instructed, "They are Khatabi. But we're important as well, our roles vital to the family."

Hurren asked, "Why don't the Khatabi marry?"

"They can if they want, I suppose. Khatabi do whatever they want. But it's not the custom."

Hamida, aged fourteen, said, "I like sex. I might have three or four husbands, I think."

The teacher smiled. "That's another freedom we have. A Khatabi girl is not supposed to have sex until her first ordered mating."

Hurren confided, "I don't like it much that my big brother can order me punished."

"You are Khatabi-Richi. He is no longer your brother, no longer even a 'cousin.' And severe punishments are seldom ordered unless merited. I've never been whipped."

Hurren said stubbornly, "But it could happen."

Ghewa was frowning heavily, and reminded her, "Khatabi are not the only ones who can order a whipping for insolence. Those in authority over you, such as your overseer, or the manager, or your teacher, can also do so."

Hurren looked at her annoyed face, and was silent. They were no longer children, and if a whipping was ordered now, it would be more severe, drawing blood and putting them out of action for a few days. Hurren thought she might leave, but maybe not for a few years. What would a thirteen-year-old girl do out in the world on her own? Was she still allowed to talk to her mother, who was Khatabi? She might try.

The boys in Intermediate School, including Hicham, saw a lot of the inmates of Enclosure 2, only fifteen of them at that time, as there had been a cull not so long before. Now he learned more difficult spells, Vidi-Curses, those unpleasant spells that made the victim look a fool, some of the more difficult control spells, such as Prindi Paralysis, that left head and face free, and the Filuah Kay Spell that made the victim very feeble, unable to fight or run.

Before they learned the Spell of Pain, though, the teacher reminded them that what they did was needed. Their skills were needed, and while it might be difficult to hurt a woman, it was necessary, and the suffering was minimised as much as possible.

Hicham asked, puzzled, "But they're only dirt-people anyway, aren't they?"

They were only dirt-people, but these women were those who had given pleasure when they were younger, and the older wizards often retained a fondness for particular women. They were seldom hurt more than deemed essential for the students to learn what was needed.

_**x**_

Bouchra remained lonely for a few weeks after the Sorting, but then Saeko joined her, sent over from the Japanese branch of the Family. Soon afterwards, they were given extensive lessons in Family History. How a few of the family had escaped the Holocaust, mostly owing to the talent for telepathy that cropped up now and then, but also because they were more powerful in magical talent than any other family of wizards.

"We look for both telepathy and power," announced Hasna, and talked about the outcrosses sought, in order to further enhance their power. "The most powerful families of wizards from all over the world have contributed to the Khatabi Family," she boasted, although Hasna herself was not exceptional, and had never been mated - Khatabi, but a nonentity in the eyes of the seniors.

Hasna went on to explain the essential role the girls played, and the vital importance of being totally obedient when it came time to be mated. The girls flushed and looked at their desks. They knew nothing about being mated, but it could come at any time.

"Reproduction," Hasna said, and the young girls looked at each other. A pair of large dolls were put on each desk.

"Look closely, feel. Here, and here."

One of the soft dolls had facial hair painted on. One had breasts. There was a difference in the genitals. The female had soft labia, though no detail was shown, the male had a gentle bulge, as one might see through clothing. Hasna went on to say that genitals were rubbed against each other, which gave pleasure sometimes, and was essential in order to become pregnant. "See, feel!" said Hasna, laying the girls' reluctant hands on the bulge. "Soft flesh that gently rubs against the softness of a woman, and afterwards, a woman can become pregnant."

Bouchra was relieved. If that was all, there was no need to be frightened. She still sometimes remembered bloodstains down the legs of a blonde dirt-girl. She hadn't seen the girl since, though she'd practised her magic on one of those who'd tried to comfort the child after the rape.

"The dolls are kept here," the girls were told. "You're free to have a look whenever you want." And then she allowed the teaching to become a more relaxed conversation, noting how the girls every now and then looked at the male genitals as portrayed by the soft dolls. Hasna had no practical basis to think she was teaching falsehoods, but she'd once been subject to an hysterical and accusatory tantrum by one of her pupils after her first mating. The girl had been whipped for her insolence, and never spoke of it again. But she'd had to be dragged back to the man, and Hasna heard later that a Snail Spell had been used in order to enable the mating to take place.

It had been worthwhile, as the resulting child was now one of their best fighting wizards. She didn't know what had happened to Indi, afterwards. Best not to ask, sometimes. She might have just left, of course...

Bouchra asked, "You spoke about outside wizards - outcrosses you called them. What sort of outcrosses might there be?".

"In recent years, we've had a Chinese wizard, also one from Sweden, another from Germany. Ones that have achieved note in their own lands. And there's an English wizard, called Henry Bellamy, we've been wanting for years, but he doesn't seem interested in girls. Lillichi's in England, trying again, as his bloodlines would be such a valuable contribution. They call him the great wizard because he can work magic without a wand, and is very powerful. Rumour has it that no-one can break his spells, but that he can break anyone else's spells."

"Even Grandmother Riza's?"

"Probably not _that_ powerful. But he's quite old, I believe, and still looks young, and that's always an indicator of a very powerful wizard."

Bouchra screwed up her nose. She didn't want to be mated to an old man, even if he didn't look ancient.

"How would you ask him to mate with one of us?" asked Saeko.

Hasna answered, "Men love sex, and don't worry about whether there's a likelihood of pregnancy. We _never_ tell a target that he's to sire a child! The chosen woman simply seduces him into having sex with her. Then she works the spells to promote conception."

Bouchra asked, puzzled. "Are spells necessary? The dirt-people don't make spells, and yet they have children."

"The spells make it almost certain, even if it's only once. For the dirt-people, I presume, it's a matter of chance."

Saeko wondered if she was going to be ordered to seduce this man Bellamy. But Saeko's mate was already chosen. She was to be mated to Ahjmed, though it would not be until she was fourteen. Childbirth could be difficult if a girl was too young, and many of the Khatabis had small frames.

Lessons progressed. Bouchra and Saeko were taken to England again for a while. Their English improved. There were other trips. They had to know several languages, and know them well.

For Khatabi-Richi girls, it was a little different. They travelled far less after the Sorting, and no lessons in Reproduction were given. Their sex education was haphazard. They learned from each other, and often from the boys of their own age. Not the Khatabi men, who took no notice of the servants, as a rule. Some of the girls were a little sorry for the Khatabi girls, who were carefully protected, and who would be in big trouble if they were not virgins when it was time to be mated.

When Hicham turned sixteen, it was time for Senior school. Thirty more dirt-people were collected and put in Enclosure 3, for Advanced Combat & Control. Now he would learn to be a Fighter. There were five Khatabi boys in the class, himself and Brahim, plus three others sent over from Japan. Twelve were in the Khatabi-Richi class.

These subjects were not women. They were men, collected at random from the nearby city of Baradan. The students had to learn things that caused real pain for their victims - First Aid, to begin with - healing broken bones and deep cuts. The injuries, of course, first had to be inflicted. It was necessary, as the Khatabis saw it. Every adult wizard, and especially every Fighter, should have a working knowledge of First Aid. The victims were tightly controlled, and always restrained, wrist and ankle, for the lessons.

Once deemed competent at First Aid, it was time for the 'serious' curses - the Cha Keeyo Curse, the Bajet Stun Curse, which was difficult to perform, the Hendrix Curse, others as wicked. Some of these were irreversible, and the subjects were finished off with the Death Curse and then the body vanished. Sometimes, a victim of a curse was kept for demonstration purposes, for example, the way that the Rindi victim lasted a few years, and then gradually withered away. And there was a victim of the Cha Keeyo Curse kept for a while, lying mindless on a pallet in the classroom, drooling now and then, incontinent, his mind completely destroyed.

Discipline tended to fail with these subjects, and the Control Spells were essential. After the first weeks, there were fights within the enclosures, as the prisoners turned on each other in their torment. It was not worth bothering entering the enclosure to clean and keep the gardens pleasant. Such things could wait until the enclosure was empty again. One could not be overly sentimental. The dirt-people were for using, for whatever the wizards wanted.

Three more intakes of thirty dirt-people were required before the teacher was satisfied that each of the young wizards was sufficiently competent, and a new contingent of Khatabi Fighters was trained. It would be more convenient for the enclosure to be completely emptied, so the last three men were killed and the bodies vanished. The enclosure could be cleaned and closed down then, until it was needed again, probably in a few years time. The students had done well. There were no failures.

For Fudo and Junichero, among others, there was a new stripe, a broad green stripe proudly worn next to the yellow flash. They were seventeen, and rated adult.

Fudo chose to continue as a Fighter, but Junichero requested to go into administration instead. His request was granted. He was a Fighter first, but if a man chose a different specialty, as long as the numbers of designated Fighters were sufficient, there was no reason his request could not be granted. Any who failed to master the skills required of a Fighter would also choose a different specialty. But the lack of the green stripe could not be hidden, and it would always be a matter for shame, that he'd been unable to meet the expected standard of every Khatabi male.

Hicham and Brahim were Khatabi. Once a Khatabi was rated adult, on no other authority than his own, he or she could order a servant to be whipped - for insolence, or for any other perceived crime. They were cautioned that it was unwise to exercise that prerogative very often though. Where would the Khatabis be without the essential servants?

***chapter end***


	2. Chapter 2

_Disclaimer: Harry Potter & his world belongs to J. K. Rowling._

_This story is rated M for mature readers. Adult content in this chapter. _

_Chapter 2:_

When Bouchra was fourteen, Saeko a few weeks younger, word was sent, and they returned from Paris. To her disappointment, she saw that Nara now wore the yellow flash of Khatabi-Richi. She sighed. She'd been hoping that Nara could be a friend again. At least, she still had Saeko.

More lessons were given on the absolute importance of obedience to their elders, and also that they must do exactly as the man told them when they were mated. Their value to the family was emphasised, in a way that made them feel very special. Grandmother Yahoko made a visit, and said what lovely children they were, and Grandmother Riza also smiled on them. Grandmother Riza would oversee the matings.

They were excited, and only a little frightened. Each of them had thought themselves unobserved when they'd quietly slipped into the schoolroom again, and just touched the reassuring softness of the slight bulge that men had. Finally, the day before the matings, Grandmother Riza made a spell over each girl, and they were told who was to mate with them - Ismael for Bouchra, Ahjmed for Saeko.

Bouchra was obedient, and the fact that Ismael was her mother's full brother didn't bother her. The dangers of inbreeding had not been part of her schooling. It was unusual that she even knew, just that her mother had mentioned it once, after Ismael had distinguished himself in a battle with a rival family.

Both Riza and Hasna were in attendance, as female servants bathed the girls, and they put on white robes. And then each was led to a bedroom behind the Cloverleaf swimming pool. It was best if close friends were mated on the same day, otherwise confidences might mean that the second of the pair would be frightened and uncooperative. It had been done like that for centuries. For the men, to have a virgin was special. It had been a male leader, in the beginning, who had decreed the way the Khatabi girls were to be taught 'Reproduction.'

Ismael and Ahjmed were reminded that these were not dirt-people to be abused, but women of their own family, to be cherished. "They'll do what they're told, of course, but don't show them what you have for them until they feel it inside them, and it's too late to do anything but cry. And try and go long enough that they just might enjoy it, too."

The men smiled at each other. They'd seen the misleading dolls the Khatabi girls had been shown.

Bouchra lay on the firm mattress of the bed, and waited, as instructed. Next door, Saeko did the same thing. She scarcely knew Ahjmed, but he was young and handsome. She was excited.

Bouchra waited for Ismael. He was in his forties, no longer young. Riza and Hasna waited. Rarely, a nervous girl might try and bolt. But Bouchra and Saeko had been properly taught, and knew they had to be obedient.

The men were together, each of them in a heavy red mating robe, happy. There was no fear in it for them. They wore nothing underneath, but the rich and heavy robes were concealing, overlapping at the front. A potion ensured that there would be no embarrassing failures.

"Bouchra," said Ismael, as he entered the room.

Bouchra stared at him, frightened. Ismael shut the heavy door of the almost soundproof room, turned the light to dim, but left on his robe, as he joined her on the bed, lying face down. Gently, he kissed the girl, and his hand pushed apart the flaps of her robe, and then traced the outlines of her breasts, scarcely visible in the dim light.

Bouchra breathed a sigh of relief. He was being gentle. She had to do whatever he said, but it would be easier if he was nice to her. She had a feeling the men were not always nice to the girls they were with. The door was silently locked from outside.

Bouchra started to become excited as Ismael continued to caress, not showing himself, still lying on his front, but teasing breasts, and, after a while, gently stroking genitals.

Next door, Ahjmed forgot that he was supposed to be gentle, remembered only how he loved to be first to penetrate a virgin, ordered Saeko to open her legs, mounted, and then thrust as hard as he could.

Saeko screamed and struggled. What was he doing? Why was it hurting? She couldn't escape, and he was very quick to finish, although panting and slow to get off.

Saeko sobbed. He looked at her in consternation. The elders would be annoyed with him if she was too much hurt. But it wasn't like she was a child. She wouldn't die of it. He patted her, and she threw herself away from him.

Ahjmed said, "I had to do it. Grandmother Riza said so. Twice tonight, and every night for a week."

Poor Saeko sobbed harder. She'd thought it would only be once. Ahjmed gave up trying to console the girl, and only took a firm hold of her wrist so she wouldn't escape, and checked a second time that her wand was well out of her reach. He'd do it again, and this time, take a long time, so that she might start to like it.

Ismael thought it was time. Bouchra was breathing quickly, and looking at him with eyes that were shining even in the dim light. Still without opening his robe, he moved over her, gently coaxing apart her legs. He stroked gently, feeling her wetness. She waited for him to gently rub his soft bulge against her own softness. He parted the flaps of his robe. He was free now, his erection large and very ready. Bouchra was entirely unprepared for the sudden burning pain, as he pushed hard into her soft body, tearing the hymen and causing the bleeding. Virgins always bled. It could not be helped.

Like Saeko, Bouchra struggled and tried to escape. But the mattress was firm under her, and Ismael sufficiently large that he was not easily dislodged, and merely continued thrusting, rhythmically, painfully.

She could not escape, and after a while, she realised that it was no longer hurting, and Ismael felt the difference in her response.

Bouchra cried too, when he withdrew, but she cried in his arms, and he told her that it was only ever the first time that it hurt, and no-one was ever told in advance, because it had to be done, and it was better that a young girl not be too frightened.

Ismael finished at the same time as Ahjmed, next door, finished for a second time. Again, quickly, roughly, painfully. He'd had too much experience raping dirt-girls, and didn't know that sex should be enjoyable for the woman, as well.

Bouchra slept in the arms of her uncle, and didn't pull away when he started stroking again in the morning, although she was a lot more frightened than the first time when he pushed apart her legs with his knees. But he kissed her, gentled her, and kept himself concealed from her.

She saw him afterwards, and couldn't work it out. It was not as soft and little as the doll, but how could it have gone into her like that? And they should have told them that something would be put right up inside them. It wasn't fair.

Bouchra couldn't wait to compare notes with Seiko. But they were kept apart. Tradition, it was said. They were to be kept in seclusion for this week while they were mated every night, and then, afterwards, when they were pregnant, they could have lovers if they wanted. They'd be taught the anti-conception spells too, once they'd had their first babies. Khatabi women had comfortable lives, provided they submitted to the needed matings whenever ordered.

Ismael consented to have a swim first, on the sixth night they were together, and he and Bouchra played naked in the Cloverleaf pool. Afterwards, Bouchra stroked the soft penis that brought her pleasure, and asked if they could keep doing it after the week was over, because she liked it. Ismael hugged her, and agreed. He liked the girl, and he enjoyed having someone who liked it, too. Better than a liaison with a Khatabi-Richi girl, which was disapproved of, and better than the slaves, who had no choice.

Saeko was taken to the end room, as she had been every night after the first. She now wore magically sealed leather cuffs around her wrists and ankles. On each of the four cuffs were three metal rings, for restraint.

Ahjmed had been severely rebuked, and ordered to be as gentle as possible, but Ahjmed was a very powerful wizard, and he was wanted to sire many children. The mating was needed. He promised to be gentle, and consoled himself with the thought that he was next in line to have a new girl brought in. He'd already put in his order. A young girl, virgin of course, blonde, no more than twelve years old, maybe even younger. No-one said anything if he was rough with the dirt-girls.

Saeko lay helpless on the bed, restrained by the wrist and ankle cuffs. Ahjmed looked at the girl who looked back, hating. The end room was designed for this purpose. It was hardly ever needed for one of their own, only on the rare occasions when a girl was kidnapped for breeding purposes. Saeko's wand had been confiscated after the first night, when she'd tried to run away. She'd expected a whipping, but that hadn't happened.

Ahjmed took off his robe, and Seiko turned her eyes away.

Ahjmed was feeling repentant, even as his excitement mounted, and he stroked for a while. Tonight and another night, and the job would be finished. He really preferred his dirt-girls, especially a new one who didn't know what was in store. He told Saeko again how he was just doing what he was ordered, and they all had to do what their elders told them. "I won't hurt you," he said, but Saeko had heard that before, and was tense and hostile.

Ahjmed stroked her, and remembered a hint. He got up from between her legs, and for a moment, Saeko thought she was to be spared. But he came back, and smeared a cold lotion on her vulva to make penetration easier for himself as well as for her. But then he took a pillow, and manoeuvred her pelvis onto it, for a deeper penetration. He thrust hard into her, repeatedly, bruising again. When it came down to it, Ahjmed just didn't know how to be gentle.

Bouchra knew where Saeko was every night, and that morning, very early, she slipped out of the bed where Ismael snored, and crept to the end room. Ahjmed was gone, the door ajar, and Bouchra entered, appalled when she found her friend naked on the bed, hips raised on a pillow, and legs still wide apart just as she'd been left. Her wrists and ankles were still restrained.

Bouchra hurried to free her. And then the conversation occurred that the Family tried to avoid, to do with the cruelty of the men. Bouchra remembered Ahjmed's careless arm around a blonde child who had bloodstains running down her legs. She knew now what had caused the bloodstains. He'd been laughing with another of the men. _Laughing! _

Saeko whispered, as Bouchra tucked her properly into bed, and covered her with a blanket. "He says he doesn't want to hurt me, but I think he likes to hurt."

Bouchra said, "Ismael hurt me the first time, very much. He says they lie to us so we won't be frightened. But after that first time, it was not too bad. I like it now."

Saeko turned her head away. "I hate it. I want to die."

Bouchra tried to console her. "It's only one more night, and if you promise to be obedient, they probably won't do it like this again."

Saeko sighed, and told her friend that she'd best go. She'd be punished if she was found. Bouchra left, slipping back into bed with Ismael, but was less responsive than usual in the morning when he started to stroke. She couldn't refuse, of course. She had to be obedient.

She was obedient for another night as well, but she'd changed her mind about wanting to continue meeting Ismael. The picture of her friend rendered helpless for impregnation, haunted her dreams.

Ismael went back to the slave, Tania, who was relieved that he still wanted her. It was better to be a Favourite, for exclusive use, than have up to six a night. And Ismael had only ever badly hurt her the first time, when she'd been virgin, and hardly at all since then. Some of them said that she might even start to enjoy it once she was a little older. Tania was eleven.

Saeko promised Hasna that she'd be good for the last night, if only she didn't have to be tied down. Tearfully, she said, "I promise. I'll do what I'm told. I really will."

Hasna reported to Riza, who spoke to the girl, but she was still restrained for the last of the seven nights of mating. There was no chance to steal his wand and kill him.

Riza rebuked Ahjmed again. The girl should not have had to be restrained. It was due to the man's inadequacies when a young girl, trained in obedience, had to be restrained for an ordered mating. And for the first time, she threatened that Ahjmed would be punished if he continued to be too rough.

Ahjmed was surprised. He was a very powerful wizard. Surely Riza wouldn't dare try to punish him.

Saeko endured the next night, didn't struggle, and three days later, it was announced that she was pregnant. The wrist and ankle cuffs were removed. She was quiet and obedient, and apologised abjectly that she had fought so much after the first time.

After another month, she was given back her wand, and was no longer so carefully watched. By then, she knew where Ahjmed's apartment was. For three days, she worked at her Cloaking Magic, which made it less likely she'd be noticed in a men's area, then slipped quietly into his bedroom, and while he slept, put a Paralysis Spell on him, and then, straightaway, a Silencing Spell. His wand was on a bedside table.

A naked blonde girl of about twelve watched silently from a corner. There was blood on her inner thighs. Her clothing lay on the floor. "Did he hurt you, too?" she asked in English.

Saeko glanced at the dirt-girl, and ignored her, just stared at the man, who was held helpless just as she'd been held helpless.

"What are you going to do to him?" asked the other girl.

Saeko shook her head. "I don't know."

The girl smiled, and said, "I know." She went to the bed and started trying to turn the heavy man on his front. "Help me," she commanded, and Saeko helped.

Ahjmed lay prone, silenced and paralysed. His eyes glared his fury. The girl smiled, picked up his wand, and carefully, gently, inserted it into his anus.

Saeko watched open-mouthed. She would never have thought of doing anything like that! The twelve inch, kinked wand had six inches still protruding. The girl picked up a shoe, and hit it smartly. The man couldn't make a noise, couldn't struggle. After a while, a little blood started seeping, slowly.

The girl looked at Saeko, and asked, "Can you help me escape?"

Saeko shook her head, "Of course not. A dirt-person cannot be allowed to escape."

The girl stared at her fiercely, and said, "I am not a dirt-person. My name is Pamela. I am a human being, except without the foul stench of black magic!"

Saeko looked at Ahjmed, wondering now about consequences, and wishing that she'd been taught memory change, but it was a difficult skill, and the girls had no subjects to practise on. She looked back at the girl, and said, "It might be better if I killed you. They'll probably hurt you very badly." The girls were taught the same curses as the boys, but only in theory. Saeko assumed she could perform a Death Curse. It would be doing the girl a favour.

Pamela stood, picked up her clothing, and said politely, "No, thank you. I'm going to try and escape."

Saeko nodded. "Me, too."

The servant who arrived in the morning, expecting to take another shocked child back to Enclosure 1, found instead the powerful wizard, still paralysed, still silenced, and with his own wand protruding just slightly from his bottom.

Both the girls had already been caught where they shouldn't have been, and Saeko was locked in her room, her wand confiscated again, and Pamela had been casually punished with a quick dose of the Spell of Pain, before being pushed back into Enclosure 1.

There was more punishment after they found Ahjmed, who knew to whom he owed his internal injuries as well as his acute embarrassment. Pamela's screams lasted most of the day. For a change, it was within earshot of the women and children. It seemed obvious that a few needed a reminder of the importance of obedience. But Saeko's baby was valuable, and she was only put under the Snail Spell. She could still carry a baby while under the Snail Spell.

Ahjmed was out of action for a while, as rumours spread, and some laughter among those who had suffered under him. The men took a lesson from it. The girls of their family had as much potential power as they did themselves. They were not to be abused. And maybe, too, the girls should not be given any practice at all with live subjects. There was a resultant change in the girls' schooling.

As soon as Ahjmed recovered, he systematically killed all those in Enclosures 1 and 2, who knew of his humiliation, and then started to challenge various servants to duels. Three were killed, starting with the young man who'd found him. Ismael called him to account. Tania was dead, along with all the others, and he didn't think he should be killing the servants, either, even if in a so-called fair duel.

The duel that followed, left Ahjmed with the face of a warthog, but Ismael dead.

No-one even whispered about Ahjmed's humiliation any more. The enclosures were cleaned, and new girls and young women were collected to serve the needs of the men, including three who had just taken their vows as nuns. Yiko Khatabi enjoyed that sort of an irony. There was an eleven year old boy, too. Adil thought he might like to try a boy.

There was a girl of ten, from a particular village in the Sudan, with a reputation for especially beautiful girls. The Khatabis had taken an interest in that village for hundreds of years. They ensured that its inhabitants were not affected by hunger or war, and that the girls did not suffer the mutilation of genitals usual in the culture. Most years, the girls were inspected, and one taken every now and then for the enclosures, both the one in Japan and the one in Morocco. Their fathers were told they were to be 'wives,' and a payment was made. No father ever objected, and mothers had no say.

Saeko's child, the child of Ahjmed, was valuable. Saeko would be cared for until the child was born. Riza wanted many children from Ahjmed, whose power had become obvious in his late teens. But he had to learn to be more gentle, and he would never again be trusted with a Khatabi girl for whom it was a first mating. She forbade anyone to undo the spell for a month, as punishment. And although Ismael had not been previously thought of as particularly powerful, Ahjmed was unable to undo it himself.

Bouchra had to use her magic in order even to see Saeko. But she, too, had valuable bloodlines, and her baby was wanted, especially now that the sire was dead. Bouchra was not punished for her disobedience in talking to Saeko, but Saeko was sent to Japan.

Bouchra was very frightened when she want into labour. If what they'd been taught about mating was such lies, were the reassurances about childbirth also lies? But the healer was an expert, and the birth of her child was quick and painless - in truth, not just in the pretence of medical professionals. Anirage knew that it was far better for both mother and child if the birth was not agony, and the spells had been developed millennia ago. Bouchra's baby was born dead, probably a consequence of the close inbreeding.

She heard that Saeko had a girl. A new mating was not ordered straight away, and Bouchra found that she now had a great deal of freedom. She and a couple of the older women went to Japan, with two Khatabi wizards, and a few Khatabi-Richi Fighters, 'for protection,' as the women always had when they travelled. Saeko's child was there, as expected, being cared for in the nursery. Saeko was not in Japan.

Bouchra asked, "Did she leave then?"

The older woman laughed, with some bitterness, "Of course not," but would not give any further information. It was like Kichi, who disappeared when she was little.

_**x**_

Three months later, Bouchra returned to Japan, from Italy where they'd been staying for a while. A second mating was never treated with any great ceremony. Bouchra was simply told the following day that she was to present herself at a particular bedroom, where Yuri would come to her. She tried to escape, was caught, and whipped.

As soon as she recovered, she was again ordered to the bedroom. This time she complied, and only stared at the ceiling as Yuri performed. But the spell she performed afterward was the anti-conception spell, and she fully planned to leave as soon as she could. She was whipped again after Yuri failed to get her pregnant, and her wand confiscated.

There was another attempt to get her with Yuri's child, and she was very quiet, very obedient. She didn't try and escape again until after the baby was weaned. But she wasn't waiting until a new mating was ordered, and as soon as she managed to steal a wand, she took her baby, stunned the guards at the gate, and found her freedom.

It only lasted six months. Some of the family members had telepathy and she was tracked down. A successful escape could not be allowed.

She was returned to Morocco and faced Riza, who reminded her how important her blood lines were to her family. "I want more children from you," she was told.

Riza pointed her wand, and said a short incantation. For a moment, it seemed that nothing happened, but then Bouchra whimpered and clutched her legs, before stumbling toward a chair and collapsing into it.

"It's the Felohu Curse," explained Riza. "You can stand for a short time, even take a few steps, but then the pain will start, and only increase further until you sit or fall."

Bouchra was just seventeen, and crippled. Her little girl was sent to Japan to be brought up away from her mother. She was called by a different name.

Bouchra had several more children in the following years. They were always taken to Japan after just a few months of breastfeeding, and reared by servants. She managed to confront Riza once when she was in her thirties, and made a bitter complaint.

Riza looked at the woman in the wheelchair. She pitied her, but she'd brought it on herself, and her earlier children were very promising, especially the ones by Ahjmed. She finally said, "You cannot be trusted. Your wand is kept for you, for your burial, but it will not be returned before that time. Meantime, if you choose, I will put you in overall charge of the housekeeping. The servants will report to you."

Bouchra did not incline her head to Grandmother Riza in the customary gesture of respect. Riza wondered whether to punish, but instead, turned her back and walked away. Bouchra watched after her with hatred. She cried that night, as she'd seldom cried in all the intervening years. But in the morning, she put on an impassive expression and made it known that she was now in charge of housekeeping.

It was not until she was past the age of childbearing that she was left alone. She was without status, allowed to talk to other Khatabi women, if they spoke to her, but not the young ones or the children. But she was still Khatabi, dressed as Khatabi, and had her comfortable and spacious apartment in the Khatabi women's quarters, if at the far end, away from the others.

Once the periodic bitter humiliation of the matings finished, she was given more respect, at least by the female servants, some of whom became close friends. There was Nara, in charge of the kitchens, Felice, in charge of general housekeeping, and Yang Dai, who worked in the laundry. Bouchra no longer cared that Khatabi were not supposed to be friendly with Khatabi-Richi. She no longer cared about the importance of obedience. The great Family Khatabi had given too little to Bouchra.

***chapter end***


	3. Chapter 3

This is Book eXtra. It is a long and meandering story of nearly 300,000 words, the equivalent of 3 full novels. There are 46 chapters. But if you have read the previous 10 stories, and are not yet tired of Bellamy and his doings, you may enjoy reading the eXtra book. It is to be published usually at the rate of one chapter/week.

_Disclaimer__: Harry Potter & his world belongs to J. K. Rowling. _

_Notes for the benefit of readers__: *Occasional sex scenes, occasional scenes of cruelty. * 'The Great Wizard,' Henry Bellamy, was once known as Harry Potter. _

_Terms used__: Anirage is Wizardkind, the DMT was once known as the Ministry of Magic. The Minister for Magic is called the Dachier in most countries. Deruchnia, the Aniragi word for Dementors. _

_Chapter 3:_

_**Many years later:**_

Forty-four years after six year old cousins, Kichi and Bouchra, found themselves in trouble for overlooking the dirt-people enclosures, six-year-old Zhor, with nine-year-old Najia, tried to do the same thing. Najia didn't believe there were any people there. But Zhor was quite sure she could feel them, even though they were out of sight, and knew better than to make much noise. Najia pulled her away, hissing that they'd be whipped if they climbed over the fence. They weren't allowed!

There was not much that had changed, except that the girls never saw any dirt-people, and the breeding programme was totally in the hands of Grandmother Riza, who was now the oldest of them all, since Anzu, in Japan, had died, aged a hundred and sixty-five. She was getting good results, though her tactic of sometimes using close inbreeding occasionally resulted in dead or deformed babies. She thought it worth the risk.

Grandmother Riza made a visit to the schoolroom that day, with Ishi, who held a sensor device to the foreheads of the eleven children in the group, and then made a quick note. It was only a very rough indicator of magical power, and didn't show telepathy at all. In any case, telepathic talent rarely showed itself before a child was adolescent. Zhor risked punishment, and asked, "What are you doing, Grandmother?" But the old woman merely told her briskly not to be insolent.

The children were left for the time being. It was just an interim assessment.

The little girl, Zhor, slept more and more restlessly. She could feel someone, and it upset her, even though she didn't understand the grief and despair of the slave. She was a determined child, and when she went exploring the next time, she didn't tell Najia, or anyone else, who would have tried to stop her. She scaled the fence, ignoring the crio-magic that was supposed to tell her that children and women were not allowed near.

Quietly, secretively, she crept closer to where she could feel it. From the bushes, she peered at a high wire fence, listening, trying to feel, trying to understand what she was too young to understand.

The gardener, Abimael, spoke sternly, "Girl? What are you doing here?"

Zhor spun around, but instead of backing away, she stood erect, raised her chin, and said, "Why shouldn't I be here? I want to know who's here."

Abimael glanced in the direction of the enclosure, and said severely, "It's none of your concern. You'll have to come with me now, and we'll talk to your teacher."

Zhor asked, "Who is he?"

Abimael replied briskly, "None of your concern."

Zhor put her nose in the air, and said, "I am Zhor, and you're only Khatabi-Richi. You should treat me with respect."

Abimael laughed, and said, "You're not Khatabi until after the Sorting. Right now, you're just a child, and under my orders."

Zhor glowered at him, but he was right, and she walked with him obediently.

Her teacher listened closely to Zhor, when she explained that she'd had to go and see the people she didn't know. The conclusion was obvious - that Zhor had telepathy, and showing itself very early. She must have an unusually strong talent. She requested Ishi Khatabi to talk to the child.

Zhor did not appear overawed by the meeting with the senior member of her family, Ishi Khatabi-Vrie, highly respected for her own telepathic talent. Instead, she looked at her frankly, and said, "He wants to be dead, but doesn't know how."

Ishi looked in the direction of the dirt-people enclosures, and she, too, felt the uttermost despair of a young man. It would be the sex slave, Valencio. How often had she heard the men thinking about Valencio? More Khatabi men than usual were in Morocco, and she suspected that he might even be the reason that both Yiko and Narzu-Han had apparently shifted homes from Japan to Morocco.

She said to the little girl, "We'll arrange special lessons for you soon, especially in how to shut your mind to other people, which is very important. For now, you're to stay right away from the area." She touched the child, quite gently, and said, "It is not for you to worry about whatever you feel from this area."

Zhor inclined her head, in the customary gesture of respect.

The following day, she found that she and several other children were to go to Japan. Zhor could sleep better in Japan. There were prisoners there as well, quite often badly abused. But the enclosures there were further away from the women and children's quarters, and maybe their emotions were not as strong as that young man's. Zhor slept better in Japan.

_**x**_

Zhor didn't return to Morocco until she was nine. She could no longer feel the desperation of the young man, but was still disturbed by the thoughts and feelings of those in the enclosures. Ishi strongly recommended that the enclosures be moved, right to the far end of the Compound, and, if possible, Enclosure 3 should be moved even further, maybe even outside the Compound. Ishi had long learned to shield herself from the distress of the dirt people, but she, too, would feel a relief if they were further away. She could always sense it when Enclosure 3 was used, and disliked it intensely.

Two days later, Zhor was sent to Italy for a while, with a group of others. By the time she returned, the enclosures were further away, Enclosure 3 even outside the Compound proper, in a new area. She forgot her unease caused by the captive dirt-people. They were only dirt-people after all, and when Anirage had a use for them, they were used. It had always been that way.

With her telepathy, Zhor was certain to be designated Khatabi. She was treated with a respect that no other child was ever given. Determined, and somewhat arrogant, at the age of ten, she was given her wand, and started to learn magic. There was soon more to make her pleased with herself. She learned very quickly, and was already thought to have more power than average.

At twelve, she was confirmed as Khatabi. Najia, three years older, had already been accepted as Khatabi. She, too, had more power than most. She was also exceptionally pretty, which could be useful when they wanted an outside mate.

_**x**_

The women always enjoyed their trips to New York, and when Sagireh and Lileah suggested it, Riza agreed that a permanent home in New York was feasible. It was wise to keep the women happy. They were less likely to leave before she was ready, if they were happy.

She ensured they had plenty of money to spend, and they lived in luxury. But there were always Khatabi men with them, for 'protection.' And those ones knew which of the younger women should definitely _not_ be allowed to leave. Riza had lost several some years before, and had no intention of allowing it to happen again. They were a little short of women now, but Riza decided to maintain her standards regardless, even make them higher. Only the best could be Khatabi.

A suitable property was purchased and remodelled to the requirements of the Khatabis. In the middle of the enormous city, they couldn't have as much space as they were accustomed to, but it was large and it was luxurious. If it was to be a permanent home, the men would want a collection of dirt-girls. Only twelve though, Riza said. And as the older children would be taught in either Japan or Morocco, there would be no need for an Enclosure 2 or 3.

The Enclosure Overseer in Morocco was called Abensur. He was not yet thirty, slightly built, and had a subtle intelligence. He was experienced, skilled at his job, and Yiko asked him to take charge of the new enclosure for the first weeks. Abensur gave it some thought, and made some extra specifications when girls were chosen this time. The new girls would not have the support of experienced slaves to make it easier for them at the start, and Pervez, who was 'Spotter,' should therefore select them in pairs, or small groups, so they could rely on each other.

Pervez approved, though it meant that a few might not measure up to his usual very high standards of appearance and personality. It was better if the slaves were not too much traumatised, better if they didn't hate too much. Pervez bore a small scar on his neck, legacy of a slave who didn't like being a slave.

Abensur selected the site, a block away from the mansion that was the new Khatabi home, far enough that the Khatabi women could pretend they did not exist. A little magical persuasion meant that it came onto the market, and the old owners would never understand just why they had suddenly decided to move home. He arranged for the physical barriers of the prison, bedrooms for the girls, as well as the 'working bedrooms,' and that the necessary crio-magic be done. It had to be totally impossible for the slaves to escape. Once taken, they could never be freed - not knowing about magic.

Then Pervez started the collection with a pair of friends of seventeen and eighteen. Models. Then four girls of twelve and thirteen, from the New York Institute of Sport. Gymnasts, who looked smaller than their age. The ruling that they had to be aged twelve as a minimum, was a source of regret for quite a few of the Khatabis, who liked them young. The non-virgins were used from the start, but the virgins were marked with a white wristband - reserved for Khatabis, who would be coming as soon as the servants had made everything ready.

Abensur had his own very definite ideas of the way to run an enclosure. The slaves had to understand the necessity of total obedience, but they should not be hurt if at all possible. He sometimes committed the heresy of wishing he could initiate the virgins himself, very gently. But that was a privilege of Khatabis, and they were seldom considerate. Abensur hated to see a potentially good sex slave damaged, sometimes for life, by being hurt too much that vital first time. If he could have his way, the girls would enjoy the first time, discover that the life of a sex slave was a desirable one, and settle down contentedly. It was an easy life, after all. They were well fed and well sheltered, and all they had to do was to please their clients. No more than five a night, either. The previous overseer had allowed up to six appointments.

Abensur's home was in Morocco, and when he had it organised, he left Zhang in charge. Zhang was not a particularly cruel man, but didn't have either the experience or the intelligence of Abensur.

When the Khatabis arrived, and the waiting girls, six virgins, aged between twelve and fourteen, were chosen and dragged off, there were screams and struggles, which Abensur almost always avoided. Nevertheless, the girls learned their jobs, and, in general, tried to make the best of it. There was no escape, after all. No choice. The twelve-year-old chosen by Ahjmed, was quite badly hurt, hated sex, and regarded the wizards with a violent hatred, which she prudently tried to hide. It was standard. Very few of Ahjmed's girls learned to enjoy sex. Young Iyad was almost as bad.

Of the Khatabis, Grandmother Riza was the leader, her first son, Yiko, was second. Then there was Ahjmed, very powerful, a feared Fighter, and cruel. He was an Elder, greatly respected by the Family, and known as Khatabi-Vrie. Ahjmed figured in the ancestry of most of the younger members of the family, and was both the sire, and the grand-sire, of Zhor, and the grand-sire of Najia, though the girls didn't know that. Any question of particular parentage was always dismissed with the rebuke that it was the whole Family that was important, and that was where they owed their loyalty. Ahjmed had the characteristic of the very powerful wizard, that of ageing more slowly than normal, and was still vigorous, still very powerful. There were only ever a few in the world like that, and nearly all of them were Khatabi.

Two of the women were also Elders. There was no barrier to stop a woman becoming influential, but she had to overcome the disadvantage of a more limited education. There was also the humiliating requirement to submit to the ordered matings. The men were under orders as well, but never seemed to perceive it as a burden.

There was more talk of Henry Bellamy, the English wizard. Riza very much wanted him to sire a Khatabi child, several if possible. He'd sunk out of sight for nearly a quarter of a century, but was again active. They called him the great wizard. He was a hundred and sixty-four years old, and still looked young. Surely he was something different! Riza groomed Annilie, who was especially beautiful, for the job of seduction.

It was a total failure, to Riza's irritation. Maybe when he was away from his wife. And maybe if it was a younger girl, a virgin. The men always liked virgins, though Riza had never understood their reasons, and it was not something that she would ask. The breeding programme was Riza's obsession.

The men had other things in mind. They had as much wealth as they could spend, and life was boring. They must not bring themselves to the notice of the dirt-people, of course, but they could bully the ordinary wizards, if they wanted. They had what they called 'aurors,' in America, who were supposed to uphold a law for Anirage, laid down by their governing body, the 'DMT.' It was like that in many of the Western countries. It might be amusing to have the conceited aurors of this conceited country in terror of the Khatabis, even if they didn't know who was doing the curses.

They started fairly mildly, Hicham inflicting the Semnor Curse on three, who guarded the American DMT building. They wore bright red capes, marking them as targets. It amused the Khatabi men, and Hicham, Ahjmed and Adil, especially, found a challenge in taking on the aurors, one to one, in a duel. If they cursed a few ordinary wizards, and then waited, the red caped ones would usually appear.

The Khatabi men did not always win easily. The American aurors were selected from the best of their wizardry, were often quicker than the Khatabis, and had a great deal of courage. A Khatabi was killed, and two arrested.

After some thought, Riza sent for Narzu-Han, currently in Morocco. Narzu-Han had telepathy, and he also had a considerable intelligence, much more so than most of the powerful wizards. He put his mind to the problem, and Iyad and Faheem Khatabi were neatly rescued, without any need for casualties. No need, but Iyad and Faheem wanted revenge. Five prison guards were inflicted with dreadful curses, and dozens of aurors were hit in the back, using some very nasty curses that left them crippled.

America's Chief Auror had some information, and two very nearly managed to arrest Ahjmed, who decided not to be soft, paralysed them, then asked if they knew what the Cha Keeyo Curse was. They didn't know, although the second had a good idea after he watched the foreign wizard do it to his colleague. He didn't have much time to worry about it, as his mind, too, became a clean slate.

Narzu-Han thought his 'cousins' often foolish, though he quite liked Faheem and Brahim, and was close to Yiko. Their telepathy gave them something in common, and for a while, they'd also shared their enjoyment of the boy slave, Valencio. Valencio had been in Enclosure 2 for years now, though Narzu-Han still insisted on monthly reports from Abensur, and immediate contact if the boy was ever in trouble.

Two of the Khatabi men had an argument, and one was killed by the other - a fairly common occurrence in the Family. Khatabi men were expected to be fierce, and duelling was common.

A servant was insolent to Adil, and was left limping around with a wasted leg. Sagireh complained, and Riza reversed the spell and rebuked Adil. Adil apologised, and next time, he was displeased with the servant, challenged him to a 'fair duel' instead, and the man was killed. There was a burial ceremony. He may have been a servant, but he was a part of the Family, not like a dead dirt-person whose body would simply be vanished.

A couple more dirt-children were taken for Enclosure 1, and one of the little girls died. It hadn't happened for years, since Riza ruled that none under the age of twelve be taken. But Ahjmed had demanded, and Zhang had complied. Khatabi-Richi did not take risks with Khatabi, and especially not Ahjmed, who would probably one day be leader.

Narzu-Han was disgusted, and decided to return to Japan, or maybe do some travelling. He didn't show his disgust. He wanted to be leader one day, but would not make his move until Riza died. But then Meera, who was Khatabi, made overtures, and he started visiting her bedroom regularly. And then he was ordered to 'mate' Sagireh. It was a job he'd done more often since he'd defeated Ahjmed in a duel, Riza having apparently decided she'd underestimated him.

He was now sixty, and looked more like forty. Sagireh was a little surprised, but resigned. She'd thought Riza didn't want any more children from her. But she was pleased with Narzu-Han, who was a far less selfish lover than any other of the Khatabi men she'd tried, and suggested that the meetings continue, even after her pregnancy was confirmed.

_**x**_

The Compound in Morocco was still in use, as was the one in Japan. Counting the Khatabi-Richi, it was a very large family. Zhor spent time in both places, but wanted to go to New York. She was just turned thirteen, still in Morocco, and was having regular individual lessons in using and controlling her telepathy. Her teacher was old Ishi. Zhor was very much valued, and Riza was thrilled with the girl, who would be an enormous asset to the Family - power and telepathy both!

Zhor had a high opinion of herself, and was apt to boast to Najia, still her best friend, though she sometimes thought the older girl not very bright.

Najia said, "I'm Khatabi, too, prettier than you, and I'm getting special lessons too." Nearly every day, Najia was taken into town, and given lessons in what was known in Western countries as belly dancing. It was a dirt-woman who taught her, but Najia had been warned that she must not treat her like one.

Najia was nearly sixteen, and was looking forward to being mated. She knew all about it. The dolls were still in use to teach the girls, and now there were carefully vetted romantic magazines and books that the girls read, as well. Outside sources of knowledge were strictly limited.

Riza visited, spoke to Zhor, spoke to Najia, and ordered Najia to perform her dances for her. She nodded in approval. If that didn't arouse a reluctant man, nothing would. "Organise your costumes, have your music so that it can play either magically, or by electricity, and pay attention to your lessons."

She left again, and the girls were given lessons in Family History, their duty to the Family, their value to the Family, and again in Reproduction, the second time for Najia. Zhor looked at the male doll as displayed by Suma, and then stared at Suma. An image came to her mind, and she looked again at the male doll. Why were they being lied to?

But Najia was listening with shining eyes and quick breath, excited. Zhor's first impulse, to loudly challenge the teacher, in spite of probable punishment, was suppressed. Instead, she listened to the mind of Suma, rather than to her words. Suma Khatabi very much enjoyed sex, and she now regularly met one of the male servants, Driss. Zhor decided that even if she lied, probably so that they would not be frightened, it appeared that sex was all right. She said nothing to Najia, to warn her that a man ready for sex, was not very much like the doll.

_**x**_

The American Aniragi community felt themselves under siege. Their force of aurors was decimated, some crippled with unpleasant curses, some dead. Additional aurors were recruited, qualified ones from Britain, who were currently overstaffed, some from Canada, and several from Europe.

The American governing body, their 'DMT,' had more wealth than almost any other, but their current problems were beginning to defeat them. So many were living under curses that the healers could not break, not just Vidi-Curses such as donkey ears, or stripes, or pig snouts, but things like the Grasshopper Curse, which meant they were not only grotesque, but crippled, unable even to speak. They needed the spell-breaker, Henry Bellamy, who was reputed never to have failures.

A four week long visit was arranged, two weeks in California, and two weeks in New York. There were a great many patients for him. They didn't tell him about their problems. Surely America was the best. They were shamed, and they'd find and defeat the troublemakers soon, they were sure. Besides, their Chief Auror didn't trust Bellamy. _No-one _should have that much power. He seemed to be law-abiding, but what could he do if he tried? And sometimes the word 'Monster' crept into his thoughts. Bellamy was not an ordinary wizard.

The local newspaper for Anirage reported that a visit from the great wizard was imminent. Riza was pleased. It was time for another attempt to have him sire a child. Narzu-Han was happy to do some investigating for her, and it wasn't long before she knew his schedule, as well as where he would be staying, which was supposed to be secret. "A large team of aurors," he reported to Riza. "He always has bodyguards, but they've sent over a lot more than usual, because America has become very short-staffed."

Riza said casually, "Hicham and Ahjmed have been busy."

Narzu-Han said, "They're asking for trouble. You should stop them."

Riza shrugged indifferently. What did she care how the men amused themselves?

Narzu-Han wondered when she would die. Then if he killed Ahjmed, he doubted if Hicham or Brahim would even argue when he took over leadership. That night he gave some serious consideration to the things he would change. Sterilisation of three-quarters of their family for a start. That would go. And the idea that Khatabis had no choice about who they mated with. He'd put an end to that, as well.

It didn't occur to him to end their exploitation of the dirt-people, not even those in Enclosure 3. It might not be nice, but Khatabis had to be strong, and some sacrifices were needed. And those in Enclosure 2 hardly suffered at all. The Spell of Pain sometimes, but never for very long. The wizards themselves almost never suffered the Spell of Pain. It was hardly ever used in battle, and when discipline was required, a whipping was standard. Not that Narzu-Han had ever suffered that, either.

_**x**_

A package arrived for Najia, still in Morocco. It was from Grandmother Riza, but was routinely checked in case of interference. The children and young girls never received uncensored mail. Najia seldom received any mail, and opened the package eagerly, to find a large poster of Henry Bellamy. There were several smaller images, as well. She looked at them avidly. It appeared as if she might have been chosen to make another attempt to add his child to the Family.

She showed Zhor, and they studied the images together. The large poster showed him as a great wizard, prepared to fight. He was surrounded by the swirling dark figures of Deruchnia, though they had to look up a textbook to remind themselves what Deruchnia had been. There was a note saying that the photographs had been taken that week, where he was working at spell-breaking, in California. One showed him standing next to a black man, and Najia said, in surprise, "He's really small!" And when she looked at another, Bellamy and wife, it seemed to be confirmed. His wife was inches taller than he was.

Zhor pointed to another. This time he wore only swimmers, and she remarked, "He looks well built, though."

Riza was well satisfied when it was reported to her that the poster now decorated a wall in Najia's bedroom, and that the teacher had ordered new books about Henry Bellamy, as the two girls were full of questions.

Riza arrived in a hurry, ordered Najia to pack, especially those items used for dancing, and vanished with her. Ishi went too, and Zhor's lessons in telepathy ceased for a time.

Zhor was lonely, as there was no-one left of anywhere near her own age, most of them in America, a few still in Japan. There were several Khatabi-Richi, but Zhor had far too high an opinion of herself to take notice of Khatabi-Richi.

Najia wrote, and Zhor read that she was in a New York hotel, with Grandmother Riza next door. They were just waiting an appropriate opportunity. '_It's convenient that his wife and daughter have gone home, as that should make it easier.'_ And then she spoke of watching him cross the square where he did his work, and said that he was not as small as they'd thought - just that his bodyguards were all very big. _'__I've got to practise my dancing every day, and Grandmother Riza is telling me all the time, what I need to know, and what I have to do. I can't wait!_'

In New York, it was obvious to the English spell-breaking team that something was very wrong. In California, they'd had so many patients, and so many had taken unusual effort to cure, so that Bellamy had become very tired. But now in New York, patients were not turning up for their appointments, though spell-bound people were always desperate for a cure. There was an atmosphere of fear - the Aniragia, the wizarding area, almost deserted. And some of the curses seen were wicked ones, that even Bellamy, for all his years, had never come across.

The Chief Auror finally conceded to the demands of his Dachier, and organised a meeting with Henry Bellamy and Dieter Roche, head of the spell-breaking team. Their problems were explained, and then Bellamy was coolly asked if he could kill the foreign wizard for them, Yiko Khatabi, whom they thought the leader of the evil family of foreign wizards. Renkin was convinced that Bellamy had the ability to somehow kill from a distance, one reason why he distrusted him.

But Bellamy denied he had any such ability, and offered only to have a duel with him if he could be brought into the open. "I'm quite good at duelling..."

The excited letter to Zhor, that told her of Najia's success in seducing Henry Bellamy, surprised the censor. '_It's wonderful! He's wonderful! So kind, and goodlooking. I was a bit frightened, but it was just like we were told, and didn't hurt a bit.' _There was no information in that unsuitable for the thirteen year old, and it was passed on, unchanged.

Zhor was a bit confused as well. Maybe she'd been wrong when she'd seen an entirely different image in the mind of Suma, and she went back to look at the dolls, puzzled.

There were no more letters. Nobody told Zhor of the rumours, but she watched two servants gossiping, and could 'hear' exactly what they said, in spite of their distance from her. Najia had not done as she was told, and had been punished. And now she'd run away. The voices were lowered even further - Grandmother Riza might have been tricked, as well as the girl. And then they looked around guiltily, even though there was no-one close. It was not safe to spread rumours that the Family might not like. And had Bellamy maybe done something else? Maybe to the men? No-one knew.

Zhor soon had other things on her mind. Suma told her it was time for her mating, and told her again that she was of great value to the Family, and she was to be obedient, and do her duty. "Who?" asked Zhor.

"Hicham," replied Suma. "He came back yesterday. He's a powerful wizard, Khatabi-Vrie, and Riza ordered the mating a long time ago, just as soon as you were old enough."

Zhor said slowly, "He's very old..."

"Nonsense, he's only in his fifties, and anyway, older men are more gentle for the first time."

Zhor stared at her. It was supposed to be a gentle process anyway, according to her teacher.

Suma realised her mistake, and quickly showed her one remaining student the dolls again, emphasising the softness of the gentle bulge of the male doll. "Genitals rub gently together, and it gives pleasure." But it was Suma's smile of remembered pleasure from the previous night that really reassured the girl.

Suma was surprised that Zhor was to be mated so early. She was so small still. But Hicham said that it was on orders, and Zhor found herself in one of the bedrooms behind the Cloverleaf swimming pool, lying on a firm mattress, and waiting.

Hicham drank a potion that would ensure virility. He'd have to be careful. He'd been criticised before for being too big and too rough. He'd heard rumours of the potential power of the young girl. He'd have to be very careful. He himself had more power than an ordinary wizard, but was ageing normally.

Zhor had never taken much notice of Hicham, although someone had mentioned once he was her uncle. Riza kept careful records of specific relationships, otherwise, except for an occasional brother or sister, most referred to each other, when they thought about it, as 'cousin,' occasionally Aunt, or even 'Grandmother,' if they were especially respected.

Hicham was one of the senior members of the Family, but had spent little time in Morocco for some years. He was bigger than most of them, sired by a white man who had never known about this son, and was long dead. But Hicham was very gentle, merely lying down on the bed next to her, and stroking her softly, her breasts at first, through the silk of her robe for a while, which felt very nice indeed, rather exciting, before he opened her robes, and began to stroke more intimately.

Zhor wished that she was brave enough to ask him to show her his own genitals, but she was only thirteen, and could not quite get the words out. He started kissing then, trying to arouse her. But his deep kisses were a bad mistake. She felt suffocated, and Hicham had bad breath. Her beginning excitement died, and she started to think about revolt in spite of the lessons of obedience and respect that had been drummed into her.

Hicham was becoming more urgent now, in his own excitement. The potion was effective. Huskily, he commanded, "Open your legs," and pressed a hand against one, but still gentle, still considerate.

Reluctantly, Zhor did as she was commanded. He was an Elder, and she had to do what he said. Hicham still had his robe closed, concealing his erection.

He stroked, finding her dry. It would be easier if he could use a lubricating lotion, but that would warn the girl that it was more than a pressing together of soft flesh. Instead, he teased a nipple gently with his tongue. He used gentle words, but he breathed in her face again, and she screwed up her nose, and looked away, to Hicham's annoyance.

But he had a job to do, and he guided himself to her entrance and thrust hard. One always had to push hard the first time with a virgin. Zhor struggled against the burning pain, just as Bouchra had, long ago, in this same bed, when she, too, was mated with an uncle. But Zhor found no beginning pleasure in the act, only ceasing her struggles, and enduring. Finally, he thrust a few more times, grunting, breathed deeply and pulled himself out. Zhor could finally look, and realised exactly what had occurred. It must change, and then it was ready to hurt. Could it really bring pleasure? But Suma was not the only woman who came here voluntarily to meet a man.

"I have to do it twice tonight, and then once or twice every night for a week," Hicham said, and promised that it would never, ever hurt again.

Zhor stared at the ceiling, and didn't acknowledge his words. So that was it, she thought. There was something inside her that tore the first time. She rose, and looked at the bloodstains on the bed, and then went and washed herself.

It occurred to Hicham that she was a very unusual girl. Most were crying now, in the man's arms if he'd done it right, or sometimes getting as far away as they could. Very few ever tried the door that was always locked the first night. The girls knew they had to do what they were told.

Once more that night, and Zhor stared at the ceiling, and waited for it to be over. As he said, it didn't hurt so much the second time, but it still hurt. She thought it no wonder, if there was torn flesh inside her, and she was sure she was very bruised.

The second night. She held her head high, and showed no expression as she was escorted to the bedroom. Afterwards, she washed herself, dressed, picked up her wand, and announced, "No more."

Hicham stared at the girl. Her wand wasn't exactly raised in threat, but it was close. There were instructions recently instilled in his mind, that he wasn't aware of himself. It was something like hypnosis, but laced with magic, called a pendreiya. He could not attack the girl. He could not force anything on her. Instead, he conceded, "No more."

It was unprecedented that a girl was allowed to get away with refusing the full week of mating, but it was probable that she was already pregnant. The spells were very effective. And there were no powerful Anirage left at the Compound who could compel obedience. Neither Haru, the boy's teacher, nor Suma, the girl's teacher, were willing to try, although they were Khatabi, and should have been able to. And anyway, they could hardly compel Hicham.

Zhor was left alone, although she made sure to lock her door with her own magic that few could overcome, even at her age. When the healer checked a week later, it was announced that the mating had been effective. Zhor would bear the child of her uncle.

Riza made a flying trip to Morocco, Annilie with her. She looked harassed. Almost every single Khatabi who'd been in New York, had gone, men, women and children. She was still unclear just exactly what had happened. No-one told her that Zhor had been disobedient, only that the mating had occurred as ordered, and she was pregnant. Riza hadn't really meant it to occur for a year or two yet, especially as the child was so slightly built. But she spoke briefly to the girl, and patted her on the head. "Good girl," and then hurried away again. Zhor would have to be mated again and again to rebuild the family, but by a different man each time, if possible.

Riza realised now that she'd been far too selective. If Suma, for instance, hadn't been sterilised, she would have been good for a few more babies. She didn't know why the women had all taken their children, when the mothers were usually quite content to leave them in the charge of the servants. Lileah, for instance, had children sired by the big American wizard, who'd once been seen to work magic without a wand. Young Laki was a dreadful loss. He'd demonstrated the ability just once, but had not been able to repeat the feat. And why had Museveni gone? His mother was long dead, but he'd vanished anyway.

Riza was beginning to know the full extent of the damage. Almost all the Khatabi had left, male and female, all to different places. Some had gone before she'd even realised there was anything wrong, but she thought now that seven men were affected - all the powerful Khatabis, no Khatabi-Richi, and eight Khatabi women, five of them of breeding age. Also there were eighteen children missing with their mothers, ten of them girls.

Annilie had telepathic ability, and was capable of sensing the magic that affected the men. But Riza suspected that Annilie had been affected as well, although she denied it. Annilie was pregnant. Maybe it would be best if she organise to have her detained, and confiscate her wand, as soon as they went to Japan. She couldn't afford to lose Annilie and her child, as well as the others she'd have in the future.

None of the victims affected had believed it at first, and none of them had been willing to allow Riza to try and remove the magic. Understandable, of course. Such a removal could leave their minds permanently, and badly, affected.

Riza and Annilie left for Japan, but Annilie disappeared on the way, to the fury of Grandmother Riza.

The Compound was very quiet. So many of the Family were abroad, and word was spreading that several had been interfered with. Maybe they were not coming back.

Hicham tried to vanish some rubbish, and stared in disbelief when it sat staring at him still. He tried again, and this time succeeded. But over the next days there were more failures. Surely he was not old enough for his magic to start to fail! Maybe Riza and Annilie had been right after all. Hicham thought about going to Japan, and then realised he didn't want to go anywhere, that he had to stay right here, in Morocco.

Narzu-Han was in Turkey. He was sure that he could _not_ have been influenced as Riza said that he was. He and Yiko, together, were unbeatable, even without their wands. They'd practised combining their telepathic power, to the point that, without magic, they had made a man turn on his companions, and slaughter them. Dirt-people, of course. And that particular exercise had been the last. They hadn't needed to sacrifice any more prisoners after that. _Surely_ he wasn't under the influence of a pendreiya. He had no memory of any encounter with Henry Bellamy, the so-called 'Great Wizard,' and Riza seemed to think that it was when there were five of them together. _Five! _Five of the most powerful wizards in the world, two with telepathy. Yet, there was no denying that he had a great urge to stay in Turkey.

Narzu-Han put his mind to the problem, but maybe for now, it would be prudent if he disappeared... Riza must not be allowed to take him away from Turkey. Valencio? Abensur knew he was to be looked after, and anyway, Yiko was in Japan, still with the Family, and he cared about the boy almost as much as Narzu-Han did.

***chapter end***


	4. Chapter 4

_Notes__: The grades of Khatabi: Khatabi-Richi: the servant grade. They are all sterilised at the age of Sorting. Khatabi: Haru, Suma, Bouchra & Zhor are Khatabi. Khatabi-Vrie: Elders of the family. Riza, Hicham & Yiko are Khatabi-Vrie. _

_Terms used__: Wizardkind are Anirage, muggles are medj, or Medjkind, known by the Khatabis as dirt-people. _

_Disclaimer:__ Harry Potter & his world belongs to J. K. Rowling. By the time of this story, Harry Potter is known as Bellamy. _

_Chapter 4:_

Zhor was finding herself treated differently, as it became known that she was not only pregnant, but especially honoured by Grandmother Riza. Information that came to her was not as carefully filtered. One day, she went exploring, and found the enclosures that housed the dirt-people, further away than when she'd been little. She had her wand out in case anyone thought of interfering, but a servant was threatened when he tried, and backed off.

They told Hicham, and he bustled out to bring the girl back. But when Hicham approached, she raised her wand again and told him to go away.

Hicham was in conflict with himself, but finally, he, too, backed off. It must have been the great wizard, and he was now unable even to control the children of the household. He consoled himself that Zhor was a mated woman now, and there was no longer any need for such heavy protection from the realities of life.

Zhor spoke to the girls and young women of Enclosure 1. "They use us for sex," explained a blonde woman, thinking it inadvisable to make the slightest complaint. And it seemed that the older ones in Enclosure 2 were used for the boys to practise their spells on. Zhor felt a little aggrieved at that. The girls didn't have subjects to practise their spells on! As for the other thing - much better that dirt-girls be used for sex, than for Ania, most of whom must surely loathe the exercise as much as she had.

Abensur was hovering, uncertain what to do. With an imperious air, Zhor commanded him to show her the classrooms. A man lay in one, and she looked at him, surprised. The teacher joined her, and answered when the girl asked. "The boys were supposed to be coming back weeks ago, and this one is for demonstration - what the victim of the Cha Keeyo Curse looks like."

Zhor had learned about it in theory, her education was not stopped just because she was pregnant. She approached the man and wrinkled her nose. The teacher, Haru, waved a wand, and the smell vanished. "He's incontinent, of course," Haru said in a matter-of-fact tone, "But he can be fed."

Zhor stated, "Until the boys come back, I will join you every day for lessons. I wish to practice on real people."

"They're only dirt-people," said the teacher, uncomfortably. Haru was Khatabi, but Haru was a peace-lover, scorned by the others because, at the age of seventeen, he'd declared that he would refuse to fight, that it made no sense to fight over nothing. His status as Khatabi had not been revoked, but he'd been sterilised. It had not been broadcast. When Khatabi had to suffer the indignity of the sterilisation spell, it was done discreetly.

Haru was a very clever man, and had an immense knowledge of magic. He liked to teach, and loved having an apt student. When Zhor turned up the following day, he started teaching, bringing a man and two women in for her to practise the 'Combat & Control' spells that she'd never actually used. It was a lot easier to remember the method when she could practise.

The dirt-people knew their 'work,' didn't like it, but were not particularly frightened. Haru said they were always silenced for the lessons. Zhor detected the lie, but chose not to challenge the assertion. It appeared they were only silenced for her.

There was one disturbance, a week after she started, when a young man was included in the group of ten used that day. Zhor was practising Vidi-Curses, that day inflicting donkey ears. She smiled, pleased with herself, when an attractive woman suddenly looked the fool. There was condemnation radiating from one of the medj. Zhor felt it, and looked at the young man, probing a little with her mind. But No. 143 jumped and stared at her, and Zhor stumbled back, putting a hand to her head. He'd thrown her out, though he was only medj, and surely could not have any telepathic ability of his own.

The guards' wands were pointing threateningly at the slave, and he took his eyes off her and looked away, as if indifferent. The guards lowered their wands, but they were not pocketed, and they kept a close watch on him. They were very alert, as she hadn't seen them before. Haru asked what happened, using Japanese. Zhor used the same language, as she explained. Haru frowned, issued instructions, and two extra guards appeared to take away the young man.

Zhor's eyes followed him. He wore wrist and ankle cuffs, although none of the others did. She guessed he might give trouble sometimes, and suddenly remembered feeling him before, when she'd been just a child. He'd been in torment then, though he wasn't any more.

Some people might have started wondering about the ethics of keeping medj prisoners at that point. But Zhor had been raised as Khatabi, raised to be indifferent to the suffering of mere dirt-people, and only decided she'd have to work harder at blocking off their feelings and thoughts. She especially didn't want to have her own head suddenly hurt by some sort of an attack.

Haru could not explain, only that it was known that No. 143, Valencio, did have the potential talent. "He's had no training, of course, and no-one has ever been silly enough to tell him that he may have the talent."

Ishi, who'd helped Zhor with her telepathy, was in Cuba, she'd heard, and it wasn't looking like she was coming back.

For two months, Zhor did very much as she pleased. She learned a lot in that time.

But then Grandmother Riza came back, and all the old conditioning returned. Riza sternly rebuked her for disobeying the rules that were laid down for her welfare, and reminded her that the Family was most important, and that she needed her family's wealth and power to support her all her life.

Zhor hung her head, and said, "Yes, Grandmother Riza."

Riza patted her on the head, and asked how her pregnancy was progressing. There were no other Khatabi children in Morocco, and no children at all under thirteen. Bellamy's interference was disaster. Far too few left to be parents of the next generation of Khatabis. There were two twelve-year-old girls in Japan, of mediocre ability. Riza sent instructions. The twelve-year-olds were to be Khatabi, absolutely not sterilised. Then there was Zhor, plus a few children in Japan. No-one else.

A rumour spread. Henry Bellamy had been punished, not killed, but something worse. When she heard, Zhor went to the room of Najia, and regarded the poster still on the wall. The wizard wore a plain black cape, and stood with his head back, ready to fight. He held a cane in his left hand, firmly set on the ground as if to help him balance. There was no wand to be seen, but his defiant stance spoke of a Fighter prepared to fight.

Swirling all around, flying, were the Deruchnia, who had been parasites on Anirage. Zhor knew from her books that there had been thousands of them that day, all there were, and no wizard before could ever kill them. In one long, long day, the wizard had killed them all with his magic.

And now the courageous man was worse than dead? Riza said nothing about it, and no-one dared ask.

But then a man came yelling at the gates that he had to see Riza Khatabi. The guards were laughing at him, and did nothing to stop him entering. One of the gardeners strolled over and regarded the half hysterical man. Bryce McKenzie, healer, raised a wand in threat, and the gardener said, "Duel, then," and with ridiculous ease, parried a stun spell and disarmed him.

The man continued to shout, and a crowd gathered. He was on Khatabi property, which was protected by crio-magic that prevented anyone from apparating, but the foolish man showed no indication of wanting to flee, only demanding to see Riza Khatabi, because he was going to kill her for destroying his friend. More people gathered, listening to what he had to say.

"The Cha Keeyo Curse," said the man, almost sobbing, "Three times, and he screamed."

That was something unusual. The Cha Keeyo Curse was instantly effective. No-one screamed when they were hit with it, as the will to scream was already gone, along with the destroyed mind. And why on earth would she have done it more than once?

Hicham finally asked, "Who? Who was your friend?"

Bryce suddenly assumed a pride in his bearing. "My friend was the great wizard himself, Henry Bellamy."

Hicham said to a servant, "Ask Grandmother Riza what we should do with him?"

The answer came back - Make sure he forgets where we live, and let him go. But the gardener inflicted the man with donkey ears first, laughing at him that he'd never met such an ass of a duellist. But then he was let go - in a wizarding area, as donkey ears were apt to draw attention among the dirt-people.

Zhor was a part of the audience, but didn't laugh. Afterwards, she looked again at the ecstatic letter she'd received from Najia. So now the wonderful, kind, goodlooking wizard was like that smelly man that, as far as she knew, still lay in the classroom, for demonstration purposes.

Bouchra, in her wheelchair, had been too slow to see the English wizard, but Nara told her about it afterward. Bouchra was wondering, with all the changes, could she find her freedom? Maybe even steal a wand? She was very fat now, although she tried to swim a lot, for exercise. With few pleasures left, she took consolation in sweet food and in gossiping with the servants. But she was no longer young, and she lived under the Felohu Curse. She admitted to herself that if she had to be crippled, at least she lived in comfort.

There were still Suma and Zhor living in the Khatabi women's quarters, far fewer than normal. Bouchra didn't waste her opportunity. She slipped quietly into the large apartment belonging to Riza, and found five wands in a drawer. She helped herself to two, one of which was her own. It had been taken so long ago, but she could feel it, and she was sure. She conjured pretend wands as replacements, in the hope that the theft would not be noticed, at least not until the conjures vanished.

Her wheelchair, as well as her bulk, helped her conceal her wands, even when she always had both with her. She had a try at undoing Riza's spell on her legs, but was not surprised when she could not manage it. No-one could undo Riza's spells at the best of times, and it always became harder to undo spells the older they were.

_**x**_

There was so little left of Zhor's family. Khatabi-Richi, of course, but hardly any remaining Khatabi. They were no longer feared, the girl suspected, and she went to Grandmother Riza, and asked, very respectfully, if she could resume practical lessons as the Family needed more powerful Fighters. Riza refused. Zhor would have to be kept continually pregnant, as she was almost the only one left. And she might rebel when she realised what her life was to be. It was better that she not learn to fight.

Zhor regarded her narrowly, but didn't catch the thought. Riza was experienced at dealing with people with telepathy, and instead Zhor picked up the strong thought that she was very valuable and must be protected.

In Britain, the community of Anirage knew what had happened to their great wizard. Riza had inserted a news item, describing just how a Cha Keeyo victim was left. She'd had him raped as well, in front of the healer and two of his bodyguards, but she was very much ashamed of that now, and there was no mention of it in the news item. He'd been dumped in New York, close to the scene of the devastation he'd wrought on her family. She didn't say where he'd been dropped, or that all identification had been removed. She'd even had Haru perform some quite complex magic that would make it less likely that he'd be found by his family or friends. A mindless vegetable, alone, unwanted. But he'd destroyed her family, and her vengeance was justified.

Riza had second thoughts now and again, though it was too late for that, of course. She hadn't quite realised how very few youngsters she'd kept as breeders, and maybe she could have enslaved him with the Compulsion Spell, used him to mate with kidnapped witches, and then bred them back to the Family. But then she shook her head. She knew a lot about him, and doubted if she could have kept him under Compulsion for any long period. It was better as it was.

_**x**_

Abensur instructed two of the older slaves of Enclosure 1, aged twenty-five and twenty-six, to pack. They were to be moved over to Enclosure 2. Two young medj girls were kidnapped from their homes, for Enclosure 1. Treen was beautiful, but Hicham always preferred virgins. He would have fourteen-year-old Ingrid. She, too, was beautiful.

Abensur organised that Ingrid be kept a week to learn from the older ones, before she was used. She already knew that she was in the hands of people who had terrible magic, and Helene, leader in Enclosure 1, explained that she would be hurt a lot less if she was obedient. Helene was Swiss, Ingrid, Swedish, but both knew English. It was the language of the enclosures, and few were taken who didn't know that language.

When the time came, Ingrid waited obediently, freshly showered, in clean clothing. Abensur himself came for her, and one of the guards as well, in case force was needed. Abensur smiled kindly at the new slave, and asked her to hold out her right wrist. "Only to take off the wristband," he assured her.

Ingrid wore a white wristband that marked her as virgin. If she was lucky, she might be kept as a Favourite, for exclusive use by Hicham, in which case she would wear a yellow wristband. Yellow was Hicham's colour, and Hicham almost always had a Favourite. Only Khatabis could have Favourites, and Hicham and Haru were the only Khatabis left in Morocco. Ingrid knew that it would be wise to please Hicham, and she'd been warned to show no indication that his breath smelled. 'Just hold your breath, and try and smile at him anyway.'

When the time came, Helene gave her a kiss and told her to be very careful. Others touched her, wishing her well. She tried to be sensible and brave, and walked obediently with Kofi-Zee to Hicham's bedroom.

Hicham nodded to Kofi-Zee as he left, and routinely ordered Ingrid to take off her clothes and lie on the bed. Reluctantly, she started to undo the buttons of her shirt. Hicham casually pulled off his robe, and she stared at the big man, ready for sex. When he approached, impatient, she forgot the warnings of Helene and the others, and fought.

He recoiled, and looked at her in bafflement. With an upsurge of courage, the girl started to kick and punch. He did not retaliate, just stepping back from her, and wound up huddling on the floor, arms trying to shelter his head as she beat him with a shoe. She stopped, finally, panting, amazed at what had happened. Quietly she backed off, tried the door, but found it locked. Harshly, she ordered. "Open the door." Hicham quickly opened the door, and Ingrid ran as fast as she could back to Enclosure 1, being let in by a very surprised guard.

Hicham had been spoken to by the great wizard. He was not allowed to attack any person or animal. He was not allowed to help someone else attack any person or animal. He was not allowed to defend himself if attacked by any person or animal. He had to go to Morocco, and stay there. When the guard reported to Abensur, and he checked, Hicham denied that anything was wrong. Telling a guard that a dirt-person had attacked him would lead to her punishment, and that would be helping someone else attack a person. He could not tell anyone.

The medj prisoners were baffled. Ingrid was just a girl of fourteen, little more than a child, and Hicham was a large and strong man, even if, for some reason, he hadn't chosen to use magic. Would little Ingrid be killed? But nothing was said of any punishment.

Two days later, Haru selected Ingrid from a line-up. He was irritated when she was not immediately obedient, and taken aback when she tried to fight. He punished her with a brief dose of the Spell of Pain, and put her under the Snail Spell for the use.

Helene was worried when she returned, and as soon as she stopped crying, tried to ascertain if Haru had noticed she was not virgin. Ingrid didn't know, but again, nothing was said. Lucky it was Haru, Helene thought. To him, they were not people. He was always very quick, scarcely looked at the girl he used, and might not have known the difference.

A few days later, Abensur said that Ingrid was in general use, but he started her with just one a night, as he preferred to do with new ones. She didn't fight Rafik, or Hwang, the day after, or Chippo, the day after that. Abensur took off the restrictions, and Ingrid now had up to five appointments each evening, the same as the rest of them. Some of them were cruel, but Khatabi-Richi were not allowed to damage the slaves. Treen was the other new one. But Treen wasn't a virgin when taken, and had been used from the start, even before she was put into the enclosure.

The next time Riza visited, Hicham asked her to put him down. "I can no longer fight and I have no self respect."

Riza frowned at him. There was only Yiko and Hicham left of the males who had any power above that of any other wizard. He was needed for breeding. She offered to try and remove the magic that affected him, and this time, Hicham agreed, provided that she promised to put him down if it left him brain-damaged.

A bit of brain damage would not stop him siring children, but Riza promised, raised her wand, and he braced himself. Nothing at all happened, although Riza had him try and strike her, in order to check. He could not even make the attempt. She pronounced judgement. He was needed, he had to stay around, but he had to keep right away from the dirt-people, and right away from any potential conflict. Hicham nodded humbly, and took himself off.

There was still a class of teenage boys, Khatabi-Richi, though they'd soon be completing Intermediate, and then doing Senior School. The ones in Enclosure 2 seldom saw them after Intermediate, just that by the time they were seventeen, nearly all of them wore the dark green stripe that denoted Khatabi Fighter. There would shortly be no use any more for these older ones.

The dirt-people leaders, Helene in Enclosure 1, and Carol in Enclosure 2, worried. The last cull had been when there were forty-five in Enclosure 2, the previous cull, when there were a few less. Now there were fifty-six, and soon there would be no use for them.

Abensur wasn't worrying a great deal. Yiko had ordered no more culls, not while the young man called Valencio was there. Valencio was protected, though he didn't know it, and the others had more security than they realised, because of him. His right wrist cuff was coloured, Narzu-Han's colours, as if he was still a 'Favourite,' in Enclosure 1, and Yiko's colour as well, proclaiming that Yiko, too, had an interest. They had taken enormous pleasure from him in the past, and might still have been regularly using him if he hadn't gone berserk one evening, straight after use.

But he'd been in Enclosure 2 for years now, and no longer yearned for death. He called himself a 'tame slave,' and the orders to the guards were that he was treated the same as the women, except that no-one was allowed to address him by number rather than by name. He didn't like that, and Narzu-Han didn't want him provoked into violence.

The guards didn't regard him as a tame slave, and were always very aware of him, even though he'd been perfectly obedient ever since being moved from Enclosure 1. Insolent sometimes, but Narzu-Han would be displeased if he was punished.

_**x**_

The Khatabi home in New York was closed down. Zhang was enclosure overseer, but he was still only Khatabi-Richi, and was lucky to be allowed to save his favoured slave, plus the favourite of his close friend, Hung Tu. They would go to the enclosure in Japan. But then, the New York Enclosure had to be cleared.

Zhang tried not to alarm the slaves, and he thought that few suspected there was anything wrong. One after another, ten obedient slaves were called into a bedroom, for 'work,' then hit in the back with a Death Curse, and the body vanished. He thought that little Mara had somehow known, but she'd just looked at the floor, and waited. She'd been the Favourite of Ahjmed. Dianna had looked at him, too, suddenly tense, as if to run or fight. But then Kamchatsu hit her, and she was dead.

Zhang was depressed. Perfectly good sex slaves, all of them beautiful, and they were just wasted. They could not be released, of course, not knowing about magic and Anirage. Still, it was a waste. At least he'd been able to save Eva. Eva and Lucy were told that the others went to the Khatabi home in Morocco. Slaves tended to be upset when their friends and companions were killed.

_**x**_

At the end of July, Zhor gave birth to a baby boy. Her labour was painless with the help of the spells of the expert healer, but prolonged. The babe was too big for her immature frame. Baby Jalloun was not very active, but a dear child, and Zhor had been lonely for so long. She kept the child close, and only occasionally was he entrusted to the nursery servants.

Riza was disappointed that it was not a girl, as they were so urgently in need of girls. Maybe she'd arrange to have a couple kidnapped. Zhor was not re-mated straight away, as the healer pointed out to Riza that the labour had nearly killed her, something that Zhor herself, didn't know. The girl must be allowed to physically mature.

The girls in Japan were only thirteen, and pregnant. They were guarded, discreetly, but thoroughly. They were extremely valuable. Riza had her fingers crossed that they'd survive the births. She'd been too impatient. The sires were outsiders, as Yiko had explained that it was now impossible for him to take a reluctant girl. He was beginning to look very old and quite sick - heartbroken at his loss of prestige. Riza still travelled widely, trying to find some of the missing members of her family, still hoping to get some of the children back, at least. Yiko could have helped with his telepathy, but he refused to budge from the Compound in Japan.

Zhor's baby, Jalloun, was a contented baby, who slept a lot and looked adorable. It was not until he was nearly a year old that Zhor admitted to herself that the baby was of low intelligence. It made no difference. She loved him. He was not perfect, but he was hers.

Hicham took no interest, but fathers never did in that family. Rarely even, did mothers. Zhor's mother, for instance, Fuigh Zee, hadn't been seen since Riza had performed the sterilisation and given her permission to leave the Family. Riza regretted releasing her now. If she'd known earlier how the child would turn out, Fuigh Zee would have been mated to Ahjmed again and again, whether or not she enjoyed the experience.

Zhor was less lonely now she had her adored Jalloun. Her days were full, learning magic, learning history, learning languages, and listening to minds, learning the things that she was not supposed to know. She was slightly built, and with a face that looked mostly nose. She looked very much as Riza Khatabi had looked at the same age, had the same determination, had the same arrogance, and rather more intelligence. She planned to become as respected within the Family as Grandmother Riza, in a position to give orders. When she was, she thought she might put an end to ordered matings and misleading lessons in reproduction. And girls should be allowed a full education, as the boys had. Maybe even be Fighters if they wanted. She didn't travel, as that would mean leaving little Jalloun in the care of servants.

Bouchra watched Zhor with interest, but made no attempt to talk to her. Zhor took no notice of her, not realising how much she could learn from the old cripple. Almost alone among the women, Bouchra knew about Enclosure 3.

Three children were sent over from Japan. At last, at least one of the teachers would have a bit more to do. Zhor didn't consider herself one of the children any more, and didn't bother making friends with the two oriental looking girls or the one baby boy who looked negroid. There was just one boy left in Japan, two years younger than Zhor, and two small babies. Riza thought that Tashfin would probably be Zhor's next mate, but maybe it would be best if she didn't have the chance to get to know him at this stage.

_**x**_

Yiko died - of a broken heart, Riza suspected. For so long, a respected Elder, second only to herself. Her first son, and now he was gone. The minimum of guards were left to keep the Compound secure, and everyone able, went to Japan for the funeral. Bouchra didn't go. She hadn't travelled since she was seventeen. Hicham didn't go, either. He was unable to leave Morocco, even for this.

The slave, Valencio, regarded his right wrist cuff. Narzu-Han gone, no-one knew where, and Yiko dead. He'd never known how much he'd been protected, or whether any protection remained. The colours on his wrist cuff were left untouched.

Narzu-Han, in Turkey, was deeply depressed and very lonely. It had taken a while to understand the full extent of the damage to himself. How could he come back from this? Live as medj? He was a Khatabi wizard! Surely he could do better than that! He started systematically working at knowing himself, and then at finding his way around the instructions that he gradually came to feel within himself, even though he still didn't remember the visit of Bellamy. When he was ready, he would seek out the Aniragi community within Turkey, and start to live again, as a wizard was meant to live.

Luckily, he'd not been told that he could not steal, and he stole a very large amount from a financial institution. No-one was hurt. He wasn't allowed to hurt anyone.

_**x**_

Jalloun was fourteen months old. He lay in his cot, or on a rug on the floor, and smiled at anyone who came near. He didn't crawl yet, but babbled in baby language. He was a delight. Zhor no longer breast fed, but he placidly took to a bottle with not the slightest trouble. There was an achievement. He turned over from his back to his front, and could now _almost _sit up. Zhor had begun to leave him with the nursery staff now and then. Hurren adored him, and the child seemed to adore everyone. He was very different from the other baby, Jiro, who was active and irritable. Jiro's mother had left the family just a week after his birth.

A treat was arranged - a visit to a travelling circus. Zhor hesitated. Was it beneath her dignity to go with the children to the circus? She decided it was not, and entrusted the baby to the nursery staff.

Najet, Zahra and Zhor very much enjoyed the entertainment. They were mixing with medj, which was rare, but the treat was with a purpose.

Once she was safely out of the way, Riza looked very closely at Jalloun, and consulted with the healer, Zola. She sighed. Little magical talent, and feeble-minded besides. The baby reached out for her, and smiled. Zola picked him up, and the two left together, Zola holding the placid boy.

Hurren picked up baby Jiro and cuddled him close. The boy pushed himself away from her, and when he wasn't freed immediately, started to scream. Jiro was not a cuddler, not when there were interesting things to do and discover. Hurren released him, and said to Lia, very sadly, "How are we going to tell her?"

They didn't have to tell her. Zhor came home, laughing and happy, and enjoying the companionship of the other girls. But the moment she looked at Hurren, she knew. She asked piteously, "Why?"

Hurren wiped her own tears, and explained that a feeble-minded child had no place in the Khatabi family.

Zhor stared at her, and said, very quietly, "Grandmother Riza."

It had been Grandmother Riza, and Hurren knew that it just had to be accepted. She said, quietly, "She left straightaway. She said you'll feel better when you have another baby." Grandmother Riza. It just had to be accepted.

For a week, Zhor Khatabi cried for the loss of her child. Then she took up her wand, organised her own travel to the Japanese Compound, alone, used her telepathy to find Grandmother Riza, and then killed her.

Staring at the body of the old woman, Zhor felt a panic within her. What would be her punishment for this terrible crime? Her departure was hurried and secretive. It was only recently that she'd learned to make Cloaking Magic effective, and now she used it in deadly earnest.

***chapter end***


	5. Chapter 5

_Terms used__: Wizardkind are Anirage, Ani & Ania, wizards & witches. Aniragi is the ancient language. Some spell incantations are in Old Aniragi. A wizarding area is an Aniragia. Muggles are medj, or Medjkind, known by the Khatabis as dirt-people. _

_Disclaimer:__ Harry Potter & his world belongs to J. K. Rowling. By the time of this story, Harry Potter is known as Bellamy. _

_Chapter 5__: _

Zhor was just fifteen, and alone in the world. She was intelligent and resourceful, she had a fair amount of money with her, and she had her wand. But her greatest defence against a vengeful family was to be her telepathy. Three times it warned her of the near presence of Khatabi Fighters who searched for her, and she was able to avoid them. She had no practice at fighting, but had every intention of fighting if it became necessary.

Zhor was not just wanted because she should be punished. Even more importantly, the Khatabi family had so few left to breed babies for them. Well over a hundred Khatabi-Richi men, even more women, but none of them fertile, neither Haru nor Suma fertile, and Hicham unable to rape. Zhor was needed for breeding. If found, she would not be executed, but she would never be in a position to give orders, either. She would just be another like Bouchra, used for breeding, a powerless prisoner.

Zhor's money ran out, but she learned to steal. Dirt-people mustn't see magic, of course, so she'd wait until the proprietor of a shop turned his back, before using a stun spell. She was perfectly competent to open locked doors, locked tills, even locked safes. But she was desperately lonely, and thought of Najia, who'd also fled the family. It was a while before she worked out how to travel to Europe, where, she suspected, her cousin and best friend might be. But one day, she managed to steal a passport from a tourist, and magically changed the photograph to one that looked more like herself. She only had to remember her new name then.

Her telepathy helped, but she didn't find Najia until December. The streets and shops of Rome were decorated for Christmas.

Najia stared at Zhor, on the doorstep, then, frightened, looked for the Fighters who would haul her back for punishment. Zhor said, quickly, "I ran away. There's no-one else."

Najia hugged her then. The girls were thrilled to be back together, and for a while, there would be no need to steal, as Najia's moneybelt, given to her by Bellamy when they parted, still contained a large amount of money.

Zhor asked, puzzled, "Did he tell you to run away then?"

Najia blushed, and said, red-faced, "I thought I did what I was told, but he tricked me. I don't understand it, but he never had sex with me. I don't know why not, but Grandmother Riza was furious. They whipped me, and then I ran away."

Zhor thought about it, and finally said, "He must have got some information from you, where to find them. As I understand, he went to the New York house, and put each Khatabi under a pendreiya. Now they're all gone, except for Hicham in Morocco. Yiko was in Japan, but he died not long ago. They can't fight any more."

"They're all gone?"

"Seems so. All the children who were in New York, as well. He destroyed the Khatabis, Suma said. But I don't know. I think the men may have deserved it."

Najia said, "I saw Bellamy curing some of their victims. They did awful things, and I don't know why."

"Maybe for fun? They loved duelling!"

Najia said ruefully, "I was so silly. Every night, I thought he made love with me." She grinned at Zhor, "Just a gentle rubbing of soft surfaces, exactly as we were taught."

"Do you know better now?"

Najia answered, "I felt so silly afterwards, when I was told he'd tricked me, and I went with a man almost straightaway, as if to prove something."

Zhor nodded. "It hurts, doesn't it?"

Najia said, slowly, "Yes, it hurt the first time, and they lied to us - and yet - Now, I love it! I don't keep the same man around very long, but I've always got someone to visit, or who visits here."

Zhor stared at her in amazement. "You _like _it?"

Najia nodded. "It's not what I thought, but yes, I like it."

Zhor said, "They never teach the anti-conception spells until after the first child."

"I found a book, ages ago, before I left, and taught myself."

Zhor was surprised, as she'd often thought Najia a touch wanting in spirit and intelligence, even though she'd been her best friend.

"Have you still got it?"

Najia nodded.

Najia said she now called herself Najia Kasey, and suggested that Zhor might like to choose a different name. "We don't want to be found, do we?"

Zhor said, "Zoe Kasey, then." She definitely didn't want to be found.

Najia had a feeling that her cousin may have been worse hurt than herself, and waited to be told what had happened. It took several more days. Najia was saddened at the way that her cousin's baby had been taken, but totally horrified when Zoe said, as if it was not important, "Anyway, I went to Japan and killed her."

At her look, Zhor Khatabi, now Zoe Kasey, said, stoutly, "Riza Khatabi was a wicked old woman, and it's the end of young girls being ordered to be mated by any man she chooses."

Najia said uncertainly, "We had to do what we were told. It was our duty to the Family. I'd go back if I wasn't frightened to."

Zoe said grimly, "You know those bedrooms where men and women meet? Well, one of them has straps attached to the bed frame. I think it's probably to restrain a reluctant girl so that she can be more conveniently mated. Grandmother Riza was planning to kidnap some to replenish the stock, but she still doesn't have anyone but Hicham and Yiko, and probably neither of them could rape a reluctant girl now."

"But would they have ever really raped a girl? And if they would, why can't they do it now?"

Zoe explained, "I can listen to people when they're thinking - sometimes quite well, sometimes not much. Rape was normal to the men, mostly only the dirt-girls, but if they're told, girls like you or me, too."

Najia asked, mystified, "What dirt-girls?" And Zoe told her about the twin enclosures that Najia had never known existed.

Najia found it difficult to believe, at first, but finally asked, "So why have things changed?"

"Henry Bellamy. He interfered with the men, and now they can't fight, and they can't rape, and most are missing, and so are all the fertile women."

Najia nodded. Zoe had told her that before. It just seemed so hard to believe. Their men, the Khatabi Elders, who were so very powerful. Narzu-Han and Yiko, who had telepathy. Hicham and Adil and Ahjmed, whose names were feared all over Arabia and Asia. Iyad was not an Elder, but he was an extremely good Fighter. And the one she'd called Henry, who'd been kind to her, had defeated them all. Najia didn't know whether to condemn or applaud. Her Family was so important, but was it really?

Zoe said, "I only had to put up with Hicham three times, and then I said 'Not again.' I would never have got away with it if all the elders hadn't been meddled with."

"What would they have done?"

"I heard Suma thinking. A girl rebels sometimes, but she has to learn to do what she's told. They just use restraints, or put her under the Snail Spell and do it anyway."

Najia was very quiet. It was one thing for dirt-girls to be treated as slaves, another for Ania, like themselves.

Slowly, she said, "In the women's quarters in the New York house, there was a particular large bedroom with its own toilet and bathroom. One day, Annilie was told she had to move out, and then they fitted it with bars on the windows, and a more solid door, with an outside bolt. They said a girl called Mary might be coming soon."

Zoe said dispassionately, "Probably she was to be kidnapped and then mated."

Najia looked at the floor. She guessed that Zoe was right.

Zoe sighed, "I'm sorry if you're still fond of him, but Henry Bellamy is no more. Grandmother Riza had him hit with the Cha Keeyo Curse."

"The Cha Keeyo!" She'd never seen it, but she knew the incantation, knew the effects. Henry. He may have tricked her, but he'd been so nice to her. Those few days with Bellamy had been very happy, even if it had been all a sham.

Finally, softly, she said, "I wonder where he is now."

"Don't think about it. You know what happens after that curse."

Najia nodded, and wiped her eyes. He was worse than dead, and she sighed heavily, rose, and started to prepare a meal. Life went on, it was no good pining for things that were lost.

_**x**_

The city of Rome resounded with Christmas music, and was colourful with Christmas decorations. The young girls took a delight in it, and in each other's company. They'd each been so alone. Anirage were not religious as a rule, and their home country was not Christian, but at breakfast, Zoe smiled at her cousin and said, "Let's have Christmas."

They knew little of how it was supposed to be done, but Zoe and Najia could guess enough that they organised themselves a Christmas tree, decorated their small flat with tinsel, and bought each other presents to put under the tree. They had it slightly wrong, and at dusk, on Christmas Eve, they presented each other with several gifts. And then they giggled their way through a large meal, drank a bottle of wine, which they didn't like much, but drank anyway, and left the remains of their feast to be vanished in the morning.

The girls knew their family had been greatly weakened, but it was a big family, and the Fighters were very well trained. They thought it prudent to keep right away from the wizarding world. They knew the location of the central Aniragia in Rome, but kept away, even from the medj areas surrounding it. Instead of living among Anirage, they were now consorting with dirt-people, although Najia said that the English called them Medj. Najia was currently enjoying a relationship with a man called Gino, and pointed out to Zoe that naked, he looked just the same as Ani. Or at least, she assumed so, having never seen a fully naked wizard.

Zoe knew a great deal of what happened at their old home, that Najia had never become aware of. But Zoe didn't know about Enclosure 3. The ones who knew, preferred not to think about it too much. Yet she had seen a victim of the Cha Keeyo Curse kept in a classroom, and she knew the men performed the powerful curses that the women only knew in theory. Surely they had to be practised.

Najia could add her knowledge. In New York, she'd been allowed to watch as Bellamy did his work. Some of the people she'd seen were suffering under some quite dreadful curses. "He must be more powerful than our men," she said to Zoe, "Yet he cures people and is nice to everyone, even the medj hotel servants.

"Could he cure the ones cursed by Ahjmed or Yiko?"

"I don't know, but he said some were Khatabi, because he could feel it on them."

"Were there some he failed on then?"

"One of the bodyguards told me he hadn't had a failure in fifty years!"

A few months later, Najia and Zoe's money ran out, and they started to routinely steal. Najia did try work once, but working when you couldn't work magic, she thought, was really quite dreadful. And they expected her to stay there and work all day!

The pair made an efficient team. Najia had an exquisite and exotic beauty, and would distract the shopkeeper, while Zoe, who was not beautiful, hit him in the back with a stun spell. But toward the end of May, a description of Najia appeared in the newspaper, and the girls looked at each other in dismay.

"I wish either of us could do Memory Change," said Zoe.

"What about the Confusion Spell? That's supposed to be quite easy."

Zoe smiled. "Of course. I can do that. The boys' teacher taught me, and I had the dirt-people to practise on."

From then on, the stunning was followed by a dose of Confusion, making it a lot less likely that they would be remembered.

"A shame I only had access to practise subjects for a couple of months," said Zoe. "The boys have an enormous advantage over us."

Najia said hesitantly, "There are some things we can practise on each other..."

The following day, Zoe and Najia wrote down all the combat spells they could remember, and when it was feasible, practised on each other.

Zoe suggested going to the Aniragia to look for a bookshop, where they could buy spell-books that included the Defence spells, but Najia said, "They'd be in Italian, which would make it difficult."

Zoe said what Najia thought. "I guess it's just too dangerous."

_**x**_

There was confusion among the remaining Khatabis, once old Riza was gone. The two young mothers in Japan consulted, took advantage of the situation, took their babies and escaped with the help of a youth, a few years older than themselves, half brother of one.

In Morocco, of the Khatabis who were not insignificant servants, only Bouchra, Hicham, and two teachers, Haru and Suma, were left. Hicham was almost never seen, and Haru had always preferred a quiet life. Suma had little status, but Bouchra had less, and there were no other contenders. Suma took power, helped by her consort, Driss. There was a little fighting, and a few deaths, but in the main, the Khatabi-Richi were relieved that someone had finally taken charge.

One of Suma's first acts as leader was to order that the one child left in Japan, a boy of thirteen, Tashfin, be brought to Morocco, and that the Japanese Compound be closed down. Aziz was manager there, and spread the word. Any who wanted, could go to Morocco. Ones who preferred to resign would be given the usual generous payment. Three were selected to stay on as caretakers, one called Fujita, in charge.

In the married quarters, Patek and Jila discussed their future. Patek was quite a small man, who looked pure Japanese, although Jila looked as if her blood was mixed, maybe Arab and Caucasian.

Jila said, "I have friends, whom I don't want to lose. I know we can do what we want, maybe even go to another country, but I want to remain part of the Family Khatabi."

Patek said, "And I can't think of anything I could possibly prefer over being a Khatabi Fighter. It makes me very proud."

It was decided. Patek and Jila would go to Morocco.

Patek had second thoughts just a few days later. There was an unpleasant job to be done, and as his current rostered position was as enclosure guard, he would need to help. It was not the first time that he'd had an unpleasant job to do, and he reminded himself that Khatabi-Richi had to be unquestioningly obedient. They had a home for life within the Family, but orders could not be questioned.

Zhang and Hung Tu went to Kosin, the enclosure overseer, and requested that they be allowed to take Eva and Lucy, Numbers 1 & 2, originally from New York, to Morocco with them. Kosin refused. "They'll teach them Japanese, and you know the ones there are not allowed to learn Japanese, just as we give the ones here no chance to learn Arabic."

Zhang said, "They know no Japanese. They didn't learn."

Kosin was sceptical. Most of the slaves regarded it as a matter of survival to learn the language of their captors as quickly as possible.

Hung Tu said persuasively, "Just make a test."

The test was quite harsh, the women being punished when they failed to follow an order given in Japanese. Even a second time, after they knew how severe the punishment would be, they showed no sign of knowing what was wanted. The women were in tears, not understanding why they were being punished for something they couldn't help.

Kosin nodded, and said, still in Japanese, "Very well. Take them now. The enclosures are to be cleared tomorrow."

Zhang and Hung Tu beamed and took the arms of the young women.

"The end enclosure," Kosin ordered. "They should not see the others again."

Eva and Lucy were confused and very frightened, but Zhang said something kind, and without further warning or a chance to pack their few possessions or say good-bye to their friends, they were taken to a small, separate enclosure.

It was Kosin's responsibility to follow the order to clear the enclosures, but instead, he left his second-in-command in charge, and left employment. Keresta had never qualified as a Fighter, and had instead specialised in the job of enclosure guard, that required a lesser degree of ability, only having to guard medj.

Keresta was not a particularly cruel man, but he was without imagination, and Patek was unhappy when the following morning, Keresta simply started calling the slaves into a classroom, and ordered that he kill them. At least he used Arabic. The body was then vanished, and the two outside guards sent in the next.

It didn't take long for the medj to realise what was happening, and the beginning suspicion turned to terror. Then Enclosure 1, and eighteen young and attractive women were rounded up and killed to the accompaniment of screams and begging.

Afterwards, Patek said to Keresta, "Next time, we should simply poison their food."

Keresta agreed, and admitted, "I hated doing it, especially Rebecca. She's been my personal favourite for years now."

Patek said, as he'd been told again and again, all his life, "We cannot allow ourselves inappropriate sentimentality." On the other hand, he thought that if he'd been in charge, he would have done it far better. There had been no need to frighten the poor slaves. With just a little planning, there would have been none of the unpleasant fuss.

Keresta changed the subject. "I hear Henry Bellamy's active again."

"I find it hard to believe. It was the Cha Keeyo Curse, and Grandmother Riza made me practise twelve times before she was satisfied that I could do it right every time. It can't possibly be true."

"I heard that. I was in New York at the time, also that you used the ones from Enclosure 2."

His voice was critical, and Patek defended himself. "It was the orders of Grandmother Riza herself. She was in a hurry, she said. We tried not to alarm them, as Kosin just demonstrated the Velna Spell, reversed it, and said that was what was to be practised."

Keresta nodded. Clever. The victim of the Velna Spell looked as mindless as the victim of the Cha Keeyo Curse, but the effect was short-lived and easily reversible.

Patek continued regretfully, "Old Patrick woke up about number six, and demanded we reverse the spells to demonstrate that it was harmless."

"Patrick knew just about every spell, I think. He's been here since he was twelve, just a few years younger than me. Kosin always said that an intact male in Enclosure 2, helped keep the women happy. He survived three culls for that reason. Kosin's castrated every boy since, though."

"I've heard the last two didn't survive Ahjmed."

Patek was tempted to say that Ahjmed had finally had his punishment, but the old conditioning was still strong. Instead he asked, "How did Patrick escape castration?"

"The previous overseer was not a believer in it, but then he was killed by a male prisoner. It was enough to convince Kosin not to allow any more to remain fully male."

"Patrick ever given trouble?"

Keresta laughed. "He grabbed a wand once and tried to stun the guards. When that didn't work, he tried about fifteen other spells, and had all the incantations perfect. Everyone was in hysterics, and he wasn't even punished."

"Well, he's gone now."

Lucy and Eva were taken to Morocco. They didn't ask what had happened to the other prisoners. Dirt-women were hardly ever seen by the women of the family, and there were no women on that flight. Patek didn't mention anything of it to his wife. Jila was still very young, and probably didn't know about the dirt-people enclosures.

Forty-three Khatabi-Richi, men and women, went to Morocco from Japan, over the next few weeks. Some of them were old, three so old that they no longer worked, even at the easy jobs as gardeners, or in the laundries or kitchens. They would still have a home. They were part of the Family. Among the forty-three, were seventeen Khatabi Fighters - Botan, who had a livid scar across his face, Patek and his close friend Pitono, Zhang and Hung-Tu, several others.

There was overstaffing, and Keresta was one who was given a different job - in the laundry, where he was surprised to find just how many slaves there were in Morocco - far more than needed. He didn't say anything, and when asked if he preferred to work as a permanent enclosure guard, declined. He didn't even use the service, instead beginning a relationship with one of the kitchen staff. Maybe he'd marry. Khatabi-Richi women never had to be culled.

***chapter end***


	6. Chapter 6

_Notes__: Terms used: Wizardkind are Anirage, muggles are medj, or Medjkind, known by the Khatabis as dirt-people. _

_Disclaimer: Harry Potter & his world belongs to J. K. Rowling. By the time of this story, Harry Potter is known as Bellamy. _

_Chapter 6:_

_Italy, October:_

Najia and Zoe had been together in Rome for nearly eleven months. It was the last week of October, Monday afternoon. Najia hissed in surprise, and grabbed Zoe's arm. She pointed, "It's Bellamy! Henry Bellamy!"

"It can't be!" said Zoe.

Najia said, almost in a whisper, "The big black one right next to him, that's Kupec." A tall man drifted across to shield the backs of the group that contained Henry Bellamy, and Pat, his wife.

Najia said, "That one's name is Jeremy, and the other one is Larry. He searched me that very first day I went to him."

The following morning, Najia said that they just had to go and see. It seemed scarcely possible that it was really him. Maybe it was just someone who looked like him, maybe even a member of his family. Zoe was consumed with curiosity as well, and only warned, "It means maybe being seen ourselves..."

Najia begged, "Please, Zoe. I really have to see."

Zoe nodded, and asked only what time Najia thought best. She was definitely the leader these days, though they called each other partners.

There was a crowd in the large square of the Aniragia of Rome, and Italian aurors were making it very obvious that any close approach would not be tolerated. Zoe and Najia were not wearing the capes or robes of Anirage, but neither were a lot of the others in the crowd. It was inconvenient if they were to go through medj areas afterward.

A gossipy middle-aged woman stood next to them. "Look, he's there!" she suddenly exclaimed, clutching Zoe's arm in her excitement, momentarily alarming the girl, who was still alert for people who might recognise them.

Najia asked, "Is it really Henry Bellamy, or just someone who looks like him?"

The woman smiled proudly, as if she had a stake. "It's him! He's our great wizard, and no-one, _no-one,_ would have been able to come back after what was done to him. But _he _did!"

The woman was very pleased to have such a good audience, and told them how there'd been sixty-five victims of Riza Khatabi, plus Bellamy. "She had to do it herself, so no-one else could undo them, and then they'd call the great wizard. But it was a trap, and she did terrible things to him."

Najia said slowly, "And he's managing to cure people again?"

The woman nodded. "It's a miracle!"

Zoe remembered a man lying in a classroom, mindless, dribble on his chin, incontinent. She shook her head. They must have got it wrong. But the voluble woman was still talking. "He gets sick a lot, and he can't remember anything, they say, and he's still as thin as a rake, but he came back Christmas Eve last year." She beamed. "It was a Christmas miracle, because so many were praying for him to come back."

"Praying?" asked Zoe, surprised.

"We're devout Catholics here," declared the woman, "We were praying!" It was only a very small minority of Italian wizardry who were Catholics, or even Christian, but certainly sixty-five victims of Riza Khatabi might have been praying.

There was an area where patients were gathering, some on ambulance trolleys, and three in child-size wheelchairs. Zoe was shocked. "She hit little children!"

Najia was shading her eyes, "I wish I could see better!"

A wizard behind them said with hope and excitement in his voice, "My little boy is on the list for tomorrow."

Zoe looked at him with a question on her face, and the man said, "For nearly three years, he's not been able to walk or to talk, and sometimes he's in pain besides."

The woman who'd been talking, said, "She belongs in hell. She's a foul fiend from a foul family."

Najia and Zhor Khatabi flushed red, but luckily no-one was taking any notice.

There were two quite short sessions, morning and afternoon, and Najia and Zoe watched both of them, though there was little to see, except the patients coming out cured. They wanted a closer look at the man who'd had such an influence in their lives.

They talked a long time that night, about Bellamy and his magic, the conversation then turning to the different ways things were done in other places.

"Remember that wizard? He knew his son, and probably he lives with his wife, and maybe other children."

"Bellamy lives with his wife, and he knows his daughters."

"Do you know your father?"

Najia laughed. "I scarcely know my mother, and I've no idea where she is now."

Zoe said, "I think my father might have been Ahjmed. But I was my mother's last child, and she went away afterwards, and I don't know where she is, either." For a moment, the tough teenager looked sad, and Najia squeezed her hand.

Zoe declared, "If I ever went back, I'd take over and run the place a very different way!"

"What things would you change?"

"Matings would only be by mutual consent, lies would not be taught, and I'd take the whip off the Disciplinarian and strangle him with it!"

"Have you been whipped?" asked Najia.

"I was nine, and gave cheek to Adil when we were in Italy that time."

"I don't remember that."

"I never told you," said Zoe. The proud girl had uttered not a sound. Three days later, she'd placed a collection of dead cockroaches in Adil's bed, though she hadn't been spotted anywhere near the forbidden area. Adil had suspected, but had luckily been amused and had merely vanished the rubbish and cleaned the sheets with magic.

Najia said, "I was always obedient, and was only whipped when Grandmother Riza found out that I was still a virgin after five nights with Henry."

"Funny, that! He must have told you to remember that you'd had sex, and then not touched you."

"They always said he doesn't like girls much. I was supposed to mention I'd never done it before, in case he liked virgins, but I forgot." And then Najia asked curiously, "What about the dirt-people enclosures?"

"We've got to have someone to practise on. What would we do without them?"

Najia nodded. "We can hardly practise the Spell of Compulsion, or Memory Change, or Cha Keeyo on each other."

Zoe said, "I spoke to them once, the ones in both enclosures. The ones in Enclosure 1 said they were not hurt much, just used for sex, and they said the ones in Enclosure 2 didn't like it, but the worst was when they practised the Spell of Pain."

"Who would they practise Cha Keeyo on then?"

Zoe was silent. Surely the prisoners would be a lot more frightened if they'd ever seen that done.

There was a quiet comment made a while later. "No-one would think it a Christmas miracle if Ahjmed or Adil came back from the dead!"

_**x**_

_Morocco, October_:

In Morocco, Abensur entered Enclosure 2. There were a couple of guards with him, as was standard. Revolt was not expected, though they glanced around routinely, to see if Valencio was in sight. They liked to know where he was.

Abensur said to Carol, "Five people this morning, twelve this afternoon," and handed her a list.

"What's the programme, Abensur?" asked Carol, knowing to speak respectfully.

"Tashfin is thirteen, and is up to things like the Freeze Spell. But Haru says he'll check him on the basics first, such as tying up, and the various grades of Paralysis, maybe stunning. In the afternoon, it's a review for some of the Khatabi Fighters arrived from Japan, and I'm afraid that will probably include the Spell of Pain."

Carol studied the names on the list, and finally said, "Can we change Tiffany to the morning class? It's best if we start her gently."

Abensur adjusted his copy of the list, and said, "A replacement?"

Carol sighed. She could not, in good conscience, nominate anyone to be tortured, even if they were not permanently damaged.

"Me, I suppose," she said, resigned, and Abensur, without comment, added No. 23, Carol, to the afternoon list.

"Does Tiffany have any special requests?"

Carol handed him a piece of paper, and he looked. "What on earth is that?"

Carol said, "A Jewish dish."

Abensur laughed, "That'll test the kitchens. The ice-cream's easy enough, though."

Carol just nodded.

It was best to indulge the dirt-people in small matters, and Carol maintained that a special dinner for a person the first time they were used in the classrooms, made it a touch easier to bear. Tiffany would be made much of that evening, and nothing that was to be done was especially painful. Few of those in Enclosure 1 had personal experience of any of the control spells. There was seldom any need. And hardly any had experienced the Spell of Pain. Abensur preferred to use the minimum of punishment.

Abensur would be back in a half hour for the morning people, but Carol had all day to think about the afternoon class. She told everyone on the lists, told the morning people what was expected, but only told the afternoon ones who asked.

The morning people were relieved, only Tiffany still apprehensive. But the afternoon people looked grim, some frankly terrified. Sometimes, someone tried to hide, or even fight. They were punished if they attacked a wizard, but only rendered helpless otherwise. Screams and struggles did no good, as a list was never changed once settled. It would not be good policy.

As it was, they all walked with quiet dignity, and Abensur congratulated himself on his management techniques.

_**x**_

_Rome:_

On Wednesday, Zoe and Najia again watched as the great wizard, surrounded by bodyguards, entered the area where he worked. They scarcely caught a glimpse of Bellamy.

Zoe pointed out a stocky man once, and said, "I'm pretty sure that's the one who came to the Compound and wanted to kill Grandmother Riza."

Najia said, "The Healer. When Henry worked, he was always there."

They saw the patients, allowed in one by one, children accompanied by one parent, usually the mother, and they saw them come out, cured, though often very shaky, especially those who hadn't walked for years. And then there were family and friends to hug and rejoice. Zoe extended her mind, and smiled as she felt the joy and relief, and thought again how different was this Henry Bellamy from the powerful wizards of her own family.

In the afternoon, to the pleasure of the crowds, the great wizard braved the cold, and had afternoon tea outside, where there were a few tables and chairs. The wall was behind him, and three men and a woman as small as Zoe, sat with him.

Zoe said, "I wonder who the woman is. She can't be a bodyguard."

Najia answered, "Sometimes aurors are women - he told me. And she's wearing the same uniform cape as the men."

Zoe looked at them curiously, and then tried to feel his mind. What was he thinking?

Abruptly, Bellamy put down his coffee and stared toward them, rising to his feet. The aurors jumped to attention and drew their wands, their actions having a domino effect as other aurors further away also drew their wands, very alert. It was just about here that the great wizard had been taken by Riza Khatabi - Bellamy, two aurors, and Bryce, the healer, not quite three years before.

But Bellamy only sat again, and said something to Kupec. Najia was very nervous when he approached, but Zoe held her head high, and acted as if she'd fully expected an invitation to join him at the table.

Bellamy indicated, and the two girls sat. Nearby, two of the aurors still had their wands drawn, and didn't take their eyes off the girls. Zoe studied the man, average size, goodlooking, an old scar on his left cheek, another on his forehead. His hair was long, worn loose, pitch black, but with streaks of white. He was not wearing glasses, though she'd heard he always wore glasses. She thought he looked thinner than the pictures she'd seen of him. He wore a plain, black cape, without any ornamentation, over ordinary, medj type dress. The men of her own family almost always wore elaborate robes, especially the Elders.

Najia finally said, "My name's Najia. Don't you remember me?"

To their surprise, the great wizard spoke apologetically, admitting that he did not remember her.

"I'm Najia Kasey now, but I was Najia Khatabi."

Zoe, alert herself, saw that wands were suddenly covering them both. She showed no trepidation, although Najia flinched and looked down at the table.

Bellamy said, still in that apologetic tone, "Someone told me. I used you to disperse the Khatabi family. I'm sorry I tricked you."

Najia was looking at him, remembering the excitement of her first love affair. How ironic that it had never been consummated. She said, "Zoe said Grandmother Riza used the Cha Keeyo Curse, but she couldn't have."

Bellamy looked at the crowd, but as if he didn't see them, and then met Najia's eyes, and only apologised again that he couldn't remember her.

Zoe was tempted to try again to know his mind, but she'd felt herself thrown out so swiftly and competently before, and yet now he acted as if he had no confidence in himself. How badly was he damaged? She leaned forward. "Can you send those back, I want to talk privately."

Bellamy glanced at the aurors, and they immediately moved back. He was obviously very much respected, damaged or not.

Zoe said dispassionately, "I just thought you might like to know she's dead. There's no more breeding programme."

Bellamy looked a little confused. Zoe continued, her voice now hard, "She sent my uncle to me, and I became pregnant. I was just thirteen, but I did what I was told. But then my baby was a bit slow, retarded they said, and Grandmother Riza came and put him down. He may have been slow, but I loved him. So I killed her."

Najia said softly, "We both wanted to thank you. You helped us be free. Zoe found me, and for a while, we both lived on what you gave me in the moneybelt." She smiled. "And what I imagined with you was a lot nicer than what happened to Zoe!"

Bellamy was looking at Zoe, and Zoe recoiled. She hadn't been asking for pity! Abruptly, she stood, saying stiffly, "Thank you for talking to us." She turned her back, and left. Najia was hesitant, but then turned and followed her fierce cousin. Zoe didn't look back, but Najia did, and saw Dieter, the Senior Auror, talking to the one she'd once thought was her lover.

The girls didn't talk about Bellamy again until they sat at dinner, each of them thinking her own private thoughts. Najia was combing her memory, trying to work out what was a real memory, and what was false. There was the last morning, when she'd woken and he was still in bed with her, and naked, as she was. It was natural, as they'd slept like that every night - had they?

She thought about it, and decided that she didn't think they had. But Wednesday morning, she thought it had been real, and she remembered that he'd been quite tenderly caressing her face. And then he gave her a goodbye present, a dainty gold necklace which she still had, though she'd come close to hurling it away when she first discovered he'd tricked her.

Suddenly, she laughed out loud, and Zoe looked at her in surprise. She'd been sad, and had thrown herself into his arms, and he'd become all uncomfortable, quickly put on a dressing gown, and determinedly kept his back to her until after he was dressed. She knew now what had upset him, though she'd not known about men at that time.

She felt triumphant. He had wanted her after all, and maybe it wasn't true that he just didn't like girls. There were other things he'd told her that were not true - that hardly any man could make love more than once in a day, and then not every day. Alberto was happy to do it twice in an hour, and wanted her all the time.

Henry had given her the moneybelt after that. But she wasn't experienced with money, and didn't know he'd given her enough to live on for several years. She wondered why she hadn't told Grandmother Riza about it, as she normally would have done. Maybe he'd told her not to. The moneybelt was for emergencies, or for when she wanted to become independent and leave her family, he'd said. Najia had never thought about leaving the Family. It was her life, doing what she was told, and enjoying the rewards of her obedience.But then they'd whipped her, just because she'd been tricked. She now knew that even the powerful wizards like Hicham, Adil, even Yiko had been tricked. She bet no-one had whipped them!

Zoe's thoughts had been running on different lines. What would she find if she went back? Hicham would still be there, she presumed. It was whispered that he couldn't leave. Other than that, there was only Suma and Haru, the teachers, who were Khatabi, and not Khatabi-Richi. She forgot about Bouchra, as everyone forgot about Bouchra.

Zoe sighed. She was dreaming. Every one of the male servants knew how to fight, whether or not they were designated Fighters. She'd only managed to get away with her explorations because the servants were hesitant to interfere with a Khatabi without direct orders. Hicham could still order the servants to control her if needed, she thought. And then, as she was probably still important for her bloodlines, she'd be made pregnant and kept helpless. Who would make her pregnant, if Hicham couldn't force her? None of the servants could. She wondered about Haru. He was a Khatabi, but even Khatabis were sterilised when no further children were wanted from them. It was routine, and Zoe had never thought twice about it. But maybe that wasn't right, either.

Najia, at dinner, was inclined to go all dreamy about Bellamy, as if, given half a chance, she'd be in his bed again, this time for real. Zoe was beginning to think more and more about what he did. Her family hurt people. This one, more powerful than any other, fixed them. And he'd spoken to them with courtesy instead of with arrogant briskness, although they were only young girls.

Najia had a dessert for them that day, and mentioned that they'd need to do another robbery soon.

"Next week do?"

Najia nodded, and forgetting their need for a new supply of money, she said, "He's got a beautiful body! Broad shoulders, lovely muscles, but not too big and bulky, you know?" She smiled reminiscently. "A cute little bottom," and Zoe laughed.

Najia said, "There's a long white scar that goes down his back, even under his swimmers, and he said it was from a knife wound, and three parallel scars on his right side, but he wouldn't tell me what they were from."

"Did you ever actually see him naked?"

Najia thought carefully, and laughed. "I guess he told me to remember it how I imagined it, because I have a memory of him looking like the doll!"

They both giggled then.

"He's had children - I guess he doesn't really look like the doll, or at least not when he's ready," and they both blushed and looked at the tablecloth.

Thursday morning, an Italian auror stopped them even from approaching one of the English, who guarded from positions nearer where Bellamy worked. But he looked at beautiful Najia, and thought it certain that Bellamy would like to talk to this girl. The message was passed on, and after a little, one of the English aurors came and invited them to go with him.

When Zoe asked if they could watch as he worked, Bellamy answered easily, "If Dieter says it's all right."

Dieter had long grey hair, a craggy face, and wore an air of authority and power, but his hesitancy to grant Bellamy's request was obvious. Zoe, without a hint of humility, said, "You may hold our wands, if you wish."

Najia looked at her in surprise. To Anirage, a wand is a part of them, always close. To be without a wand was like being defenceless - naked. But Dieter smiled in relief, accepted the wands, and escorted them to the Observation Room.

They were separated from the workroom by a clear barrier, and Zoe stared in fascination as Bellamy casually asked about the list for the day. Najia nudged her, and Dieter politely introduced them to the others in the Observation Room. Pat Howard, Bellamy's wife, and Najia stared at the tall woman. This was his wife. There was also Doctor Isaac Berg. Zoe and Najia were polite, though a little surprised. A doctor? Wizards were never called 'Doctor.'

Pat talked quietly to Najia, until Zoe said, "Hush, you'll disturb them."

Pat explained, "They can't hear us from that side, and we're almost invisible, too."

Zoe nodded and watched quietly, not taking notice of her cousin who continued to ask questions about Bellamy and his life.

Pat answered courteously, studying the girl from the family who had so much hurt her husband. He might have been curing these people, but he still had no memory of 'the time before,' and he became so terribly ill sometimes, three major illnesses that had lasted weeks, not even counting the minor episodes. And over two years before that when she hadn't even known where he was. And then at dusk last Christmas Eve, and he was staring at her, and said hello. But he hadn't known she was his wife, and he'd said that his name was John. Pitifully weak from hunger and cold. How he'd managed to find his way home...

Zoe nudged Najia and pointed. A patient on a trolley was being wheeled into the workroom. The face of the patient came into view, and the girls both drew their breath in and looked away. Dr. Berg and Pat were talking together, not watching.

Zoe looked back as Bellamy started to explain how the woman might feel, when he tried to work the cure. He said that normal magic could not break a Riza Khatabi spell, and that he'd have to go into her head, using telepathy, and that some people felt it as something dreadful. If she wanted him to stop, she should shout in her mind, and he would stop.

This woman couldn't speak, and Zoe, as well as Bellamy, felt her desperate yearning to be free, whatever it took.

Zoe was listening. She felt the intrusion of Bellamy's mind into the woman's, and understood her horror, and the effort the poor woman was making not to scream at him to get out. _Z_oe became aware of something else. Bellamy's mind wasn't right. His mind was wounded, and yet, quite suddenly, the woman's face and body became normal. Even wounded, he had undone the spell of Grandmother Riza. And in all the Khatabi Family's experience, _no-one_ could undo one of Riza's spells.

Zoe took her mind from Bellamy's and continued listening to the woman. She had a child at home, and she hadn't been able to be a mother to the child for so long. Zoe smiled in delight, and surreptitiously wiped tears from her eyes.

The woman's joy radiated. She had a future, and her husband and child waited just outside. She'd have to be careful. The small child would not know her, as he'd been just a baby when it had happened. No-one had known why until after the great wizard had vanished, and then gradually, the who and why had become clear.

Zoe was remembering Jalloun. He'd been such a dear baby, and she'd been able to cuddle him all she wanted. Zoe remembered few cuddles in her life. That unpleasant time with Hicham didn't count.

Bellamy cured two more before Zoe remembered to watch what was happening, rather than dwelling on the memory of a lost son. She didn't even know what they'd done with the little body. She was so glad she'd killed Riza, though she knew that Najia had been quite horrified when she first told her. It seemed that one could curse someone without practising if you just wanted it hard enough.

She sighed as another patient on a trolley was wheeled in, and this time she felt Bellamy's mind, hoping he would not detect her. But he was concentrating on his patients, forgetful of those who watched.

Najia asked her quietly, "How's he doing it?"

Zoe answered, "He intrudes in their minds and makes the person's body remember what it's supposed to be."

The others looked at her in surprise, but Zoe ignored them.

Zoe knew that Dieter was in charge, and even Bellamy deferred to him. She turned to him, and said, with almost a command in her voice, "I would like to learn how to do it. I think I can do it, but I'll need my wand."

Dieter looked at her doubtfully, and finally asked, "Why?"

Zoe refused to admit that she wanted to help people, and said instead, "Well, it's a rare skill, isn't it? It has to be well paid!"

Dieter looked at Pat. Pat nodded, and Dieter said, "If Bellamy agrees. We'll ask him when we have a break."

When Bellamy entered the warm tea-room, Najia and Zoe waited for him. As soon as he was organised with a cake on a plate, and a coffee, Pat said, "Zoe wants to try and learn to do the telepathic cure."

Bellamy looked at Zoe, and suddenly accused, "You've been listening when I didn't give you permission."

Zoe had all the arrogance of a Khatabi, and stated flatly, "I listen where I choose. No-one ever said I should get permission!"

Bellamy's frown held for only a moment, and he grinned. "Well, I don't suppose Ethics of Telepathy was a required subject in your household. I'll take more care from now on."

Ethics of Telepathy? Zoe thought. What wasEthics of Telepathy?

Bellamy glanced at Bryce. "What do you reckon, Bryce? She obviously thinks she can do my job for me, and probably better."

His comment was good-humoured, but Zoe felt mocked. She said, "I _might_ be able to! I can do lots of other things!"

Bellamy took her seriously, to her pleasure, and asked, "Do you have any questions, or have you been listening sufficiently to have a go straightaway."

Zoe said, "I would like to be with you in the room for at least one more, before I try. The barrier interferes."

Bellamy nodded. "You must have a lot more raw talent than I do, telepathy wise. How about pure power?"

Zoe spoke casually, "More than anyone else I know."

Bellamy said, "Healer McKenzie says I'm a mutation. Do you want to please him by letting him take his readings?"

Zoe's reply was definite. "No."

Another helpless cripple, another Khatabi victim, this time a boy of around twelve. Bellamy explained to the patient what he would be doing more fully than usual - that the boy's mind, once reminded by a gentle magical nudge, would know what his body was supposed to be, and return him to that. And like always, he explained that it was just too hard for some people to take, that others couldn't feel it at all, and that if he wanted the feeling of his intrusion in his head to stop, he should yell at him, but preferably just in his mind.

The boy listened carefully, and Bellamy felt his assent. He was another who couldn't speak.

Zoe felt the difference when she tried to listen. She was only able to know his mind to the extent that he allowed. She could listen to the boy, and wondered that he seemed oblivious to the intrusion. She frowned. It was subtle, surely more subtle than she could manage. He was going more slowly, she thought, than he had been doing, and Zoe followed, concentrating. He found the 'place' in the mind that knew what a body was supposed to be, and then just touched with his magic.

The boy sat from his hospital trolley, stifled his emotion, and said in a tough voice, husky from disuse, that he was very grateful.

Zoe refused to show what she felt, and said to Bellamy, instead, "How much do you get paid for doing a cure like that?"

Bellamy looked blank. "I don't know." He looked up at Pat, where she sat next to Najia and Dieter. "How much do I get paid, do you know?"

Pat shrugged. "We'll ask Cynthia. She probably knows."

Zoe nodded, forgetting that the barrier was supposed to be soundproof.

Gina was the Italian Coordinator, and had been introduced to the 'Kasey' girls, at morning tea. She looked curiously at Zoe, and said, "Ready for the next?"

Bellamy said, "In a minute," and he explained to Zoe the importance of warning a person what he might feel, and that many patients, when they felt the intrusion in their minds, could become furious at the intrusion, and attack the one who tried to cure. That he knew of a healer who'd been killed by the nice young man who was his patient. "A person subject to the telepathic cure is not responsible for their actions, and should not be punished if they commit an assault."

Zoe listened with respect. Bellamy asked, "Do you want to try the next one?"

Zoe agreed. She might be nervous, but no-one would be able to tell, she hoped.

Bellamy cautioned, "Don't forget to shield yourself, otherwise it hurts your head if you get thrown out."

Zoe took note. She knew how to shield her mind, though it was hardly ever needed.

Bellamy stood back and put away his wand. Kupec came forward and stood very close to Zoe, who looked at him in alarm. "I'll help look after you," he explained.

She'd scarcely taken notice before, but now saw as the woman was asked for her wand. "So no-one gets hurt," Collette explained casually. Collette was the woman no larger than herself, but Zoe was too nervous now even to smile at her in gratitude for not being bigger.

Carefully, remembering Bellamy's preliminary warning to his patient, almost word for word, Zoe explained to the woman how she might feel. And then, just holding her wand slightly raised, she dropped her head and started to concentrate. It was taking longer than she expected, and Zoe could feel the woman fighting her desire to throw her right out of her head. But then she nudged the 'place,' and the woman lost her grotesque appearance and became just a pleasant looking, middle-aged woman.

Zoe was jubilant, refused to show it, and asked if she would be paid instead of Bellamy since she'd done the job. Bellamy smiled at her, and Zoe suspected that he saw straight through her pretence_. _She looked away from him. That man knew too much. Suddenly she realised that he definitely knew too much, and snarled at him. "Get out of my mind."

Bellamy answered her calmly, "You'll have to shield yourself better from now on. A person doesn't have to have telepathy to be able to throw you out and hurt you in the process."

Zoe glared at him, but Bellamy only said, "Tomorrow, I won't be needing this sort of cure, probably. There'll be a half dozen assorted ones, probably easy, and then those who couldn't tolerate the telepathic cure." He paused, "And then I'll be trying to raise the strong magic..."

He spoke almost to himself, and Zoe felt his fear. The great wizard had every intention of attempting to do something the following day that he thought might easily kill him, but it was pain that he feared. Pain that he suffered now because of Riza Khatabi, who had tried to destroy him. The Cha Keeyo Curse, the curse which destroyed the mind, totally, irrevocably.

She tore her eyes off him. He'd be angry if he realised that she knew how frightened he was.

Again, she performed a cure, a little more quickly and easily than the first, and then another two. She knew she was taking far longer than Bellamy had been. She hoped he wouldn't feel he should take over again, just because he did it so much better, but he leaned against the wall and only watched. Zoe Kasey, they said she was, a trainee.

None of the patients objected to her doing the cure. They only wanted to be cured. They were wicked curses, and Zoe wondered why Grandmother Riza had felt it necessary to hurt them so much, even if she did want Bellamy out where she could get her revenge. It seemed that she didn't care that with Bellamy gone, there would be_ no-one_ who could cure her victims.

Bellamy reminded Zoe to shield herself more carefully, and to be ready to retreat if needed. But he made no move to take over again.

Najia and Zoe laughed and chattered at lunchtime, Zoe thrilled with herself. She was taking a great pleasure in the joy and gratitude of her patients. Zoe caught a thought from Bryce, the healer. He was pleased that Zoe did the work, because using magic made Bellamy ill.

Zoe glanced around just as Dieter handed Najia back her wand, and then looked again at Bellamy, but he was only eating his lunch and talking quietly to his wife. He still guarded his mind, giving her a swift glance of rebuke as she tried to explore. It seemed he was very good at feeling that mental probe. Even Ishi had never noticed when she took that much care.

"Four more Khatabi victims after lunch," said Bryce, "And then eleven others, and that's it for the day."

Zoe said, looking almost timidly at Bellamy, "Can I stay and try and do the others as well?"

Bellamy nodded, "As long as Dieter says it's OK. He's the boss."

The Italian Coodinator, Gina, joined them, and said, "Zoe will get the standard rate of pay for each person she cures, to be paid as soon as she says she's had enough. We'll have the figure for each cure tomorrow, Dieter says."

Zoe smiled. Maybe they wouldn't need to do a robbery next week.

The first of the patients in the afternoon was a large wizard. Zoe looked diminutive standing beside him as she concentrated. This wizard suddenly tried to attack, but Kupec swung her away from the striking fist, taking it instead on his own strong shoulder, and Reece imposed a Spell of Deep Calm.

_That fist would have broken my jaw,_ thought Zoe, but pretended not to be disturbed. At least the man had been cured before he lost control. Another, which Zoe completed without incident_. _

But then there was something different, and Zoe felt awful. She hated sex, and the imagery of sex was very, very strong in the man's mind, although it happened only after the cure.

Bellamy tried to reassure, aware of her acute embarrassment, and the conversation was conducted purely mind to mind, in a way that Zoe had not been able to do even with Ishi. Bellamy said that it happened now and then, that a few patients experienced the mental penetration as a sort of seduction. Zoe suddenly realised something. He didn't remember it happening - he was remembering only what his own book had said. His memory prior to Riza's revenge, really was totally gone.

Bellamy asked considerately, "Do you want me to do the next one?"

Zoe gathered her courage, and said, "I'll do it."

It was a big man, who had painful lumps all over his body and face, the Paki Tek Curse, Zoe thought, though she'd never seen it. Collette routinely asked for the patient's wand, and Zoe explained carefully what he might feel. The afflicted man listened closely, and said, "Please, go ahead."

Zoe dropped her head in order to concentrate better. But almost before she started, the man gave a roar of fury, and tried to reach her to break her neck. For a second time, Kupec swung her away and shielded her with his strong body, as the wands of both Reece and Collette flashed simultaneously. The man crashed to the floor, stunned, was lifted to a trolley and wheeled away.

Bryce said calmly, "I'll note him down for the strong magic tomorrow."

They had a short break then, and Bellamy explained to Zoe that most times, the spells of his patients were a lot easier to break. "Unless they rebel, the telepathic cure will almost always cure a patient, but if you have enough power, you might be able to do it with just a wave of your wand."

Bryce asked curiously, "Have you ever tried to do it even though the patient was fighting?"

Bellamy disguised his lack of memory, "That would be too terrible for the patient, I think."

Bryce looked at him with an intense curiosity. He seemed so normal most of the time, it was easy to forget how damaged he was.

Bellamy rose, "Must be time to continue."

Zoe glanced at Bryce. She thought even Pat and Dieter might have known exactly what Bryce was thinking that time.

"These are no longer Khatabi victims," Bryce said to Zoe. "But they've defeated the healers, and have also defeated at least one of the other spell-breakers."

Zoe asked, "Other spell-breakers?"

"Juana and Lucasta Stonehouse. They work in London." He grinned knowingly, "Relatives of Bellamy."

Bellamy said nothing, just leaning against the wall again, but Zoe looked at Bryce, and knew there was something scandalous about the relationship.

Bryce glanced at his list, and said, "The Trembling Spell."

Zoe tried three times, and turned to Bellamy, who waved his wand, and the witch breathed a deep sigh of relief, as her body was finally still.

The next man was shown in by Gina. "Try and _feel_ the spell," Bellamy told Zoe.

Zoe stopped and opened her senses. She could sense it, just as he said, but not quite clearly enough. "Can I hold your hand?" she asked the man. The man looked down from his Olympian height, and offered a large hand.

Zoe hesitated a moment longer, just concentrating, and then stepped back, and waved her wand, forgetting to verbalise the incantation. The enormous protrusion on the man's face became a nose again, and Zoe beamed. The man stepped towards her, beaming too, wanting to hug her. But Kupec put his bulk between them, and he allowed himself to be shown out instead, though his repeated thank yous were still heard even after he was out of sight.

Bellamy was still leaning against the wall and smiling. Zoe was thrilled with herself, doing something that so few could do. Making people happy.

Bellamy was trembling, but Najia had told her that even when she'd known him, he would tremble every now and then. 'He just said it means nothing.' He was hoping she'd ignore it. Zoe ignored it.

"Can I have a go?" Najia called from the Observation Room.

Bellamy laughed up at her. "Why not? I'll be able to retire soon!"

But Najia couldn't feel the spells, though even Najia managed to cure one man.

"We'll go back to Morocco and go into partnership," Zoe said. "We'll live and work together, and never, ever have a man because men are only trouble."

"Some men are all right," said Najia, with a sidelong glance at Bellamy.

Bellamy was grinning at her, and waved his wand at a place in the corner, conjuring himself a chair. "You girls take it from here," he said casually, and the girls took it from there.

Only once was he needed, and then he raised a slightly higher intensity of magic than normal as Zoe listened to his mind, as much as he would allow_. _There had been something like a tingle in the air, something she'd never felt before. It hurt her, a little, though no-one else was at all affected. She looked at minds. It wasn't pretence. It was only herself that had felt that phenomenon as something painful.

Gina went to Bellamy. "Six patients just arrived from Germany. They haven't seen the Stonehouses, but since you're here, they were hoping."

Bellamy looked at the cousins. "Six more? Probably dead easy."

They nodded, and this time, Najia made the first attempt and cured four, with Zoe doing the other two. Bellamy leaned back in his chair, hands behind his head, and announced that he reckoned he'd done the best day's work that he'd ever done.

Zoe and Najia were leaving when Zoe felt something, and glanced back. He'd turned away from them, and again she felt his wave of fear. He'd forgotten to shield. _The strong magic. Would his mind splinter into a thousand pieces. Would he die? Or would the pain come and just go on and on like it did sometimes. Maybe dying was better. _

Dieter said to Bellamy, "I hear you're playing water polo this evening," and Bellamy turned to him with relief, and agreed with a smile.

Zoe and Najia talked again about Henry Bellamy most of the evening. "He's not like our men," said Zoe. "He gets frightened, and then he does things anyway."

Najia said. "He's _nothing_ like the men of our family, and I don't believe he's frightened of anything! He's just wonderful!"

Zoe said, "I didn't mean that he's not wonderful, just that he's human and he fears pain, just the same as the rest of us."

But Najia would not admit that her hero might feel fear.

***chapter end***


	7. Chapter 7

_Notes__: __Terms used__: Wizardkind are Anirage, muggles are medj, or Medjkind, known by the Khatabis as dirt-people. Ministers for Magic are called the Dachier, Dassier, or Dassio, depending on the country. The Ministry of Magic is known more discreetly as the 'DMT.' _

_Disclaimer__: Harry Potter & his world belongs to J. K. Rowling. By the time of this story, Harry Potter is known as Bellamy. _

_Chapter 7:_

Friday morning, they waited again for Bellamy. Nearby were three young women who appeared Scandinavian. They had enormously enlarged breasts, which they tried to conceal with their capes.

Zoe smirked, prying into their plight. They'd wanted bigger breasts to make themselves look sexy, but it hadn't worked very well, and the breasts had kept growing and growing.

"What if they offer you a job?" asked Najia.

"I'll take it," said Zoe. "I'm sick of stealing and I like doing this. But anyway, they might want both of us."

Najia smiled hopefully. "In England, they have two sisters working, and we're like sisters."

Zoe happened to be looking at the apparation zone of the square, currently very well guarded, as Kupec, Dieter, and then Bellamy appeared out of thin air. Her mouth was open, and she said to Najia, "I didn't know anyone could do that!"

Najia looked questioning, and Zoe said, "They just appeared," but then said quickly, "We'll talk about it later," and only tried to look at the minds of the aurors. The aurors wouldn't detect her intrusion, though Bellamy was usually quick to. It seemed it was routine. They always apparated for security, though the cousins hadn't happened to see it before.

"We'll buy some more books on magic, after," said Zoe. It was apparent that their education had holes.

Gina greeted Bellamy, and said, "Twelve additional from other countries. They've been pouring in, but they all say they've been seen by healers, although not by the Stonehouses."

Bellamy replied, "I reckon Zoe and Najia can do those, straight after the others, still with the strong magic ones last," and he turned to the girls, greeting them.

Pat walked towards the girls, and they were introduced to Cynthia Agnew, assistant to the British Dachier, their head of wizardry. Cynthia congratulated them on their talent, agreed with Najia that Henry Bellamy was altogether wonderful, and then said, "The Italian Dassio will be here shortly. I think you'll be offered jobs."

Najia asked, puzzled, "Dassio?"

"Head of the Italian DMT, Dassio. In Britain, we call it Dachier."

Najia grinned at Zoe and said, "Jobs."

Zoe grinned back. If they were offered jobs as spell-breakers, they'd take them, though maybe a private practice might be better, with bodyguards and independence.

The morning went quickly, Zoe allowing Najia to make the first attempt, while Zoe leaned against the wall in a casual posture, just as Bellamy had done the previous day.

Bellamy, this time, sat at the desk next to Bryce, and only watched casually. He even had to be nudged when both Najia and Zoe failed with the third wizard of the day.

Zoe wondered what he was thinking, but his face showed no expression, and his mind was well guarded. She wondered just how much he was_ expecting_ to be ill before the end of the day. He didn't even get up from the desk, just glanced at the patient, waved his wand, and stared at nothing again.

He's got far more power than anyone I've ever known, thought Zoe.How would he go in a duel with one of our men? But then remembered. He _had_ fought them, and had won resoundingly, though she didn't know the details.

A bit later, he was called on again, and this time, a wave of the wand left the woman unchanged, and he stood, came closer, and raised his wand again, this time just holding it still. Zoe shrank from him as there was felt that tingle in the air. What a horrible feeling. Another the same, straight after. She still tried to listen and to feel, but she didn't think it was something she could do.

Morning tea then, and the raised intensity of magic was discussed. Najia had felt it, but none of the others had experienced it as something so unpleasant.

Pat was being very kind to them, and promised to send a book about a young woman called Cissy Diefenberger, who broke spells until she died. "She found that extra power when she was thirty-nine."

"Yes," said Bryce, "But the sixth time she did it, she had an attack of severe head pain and died."

The atmosphere was suddenly tense. It seemed that each of them thought it a very real possibility that Bellamy could die like that - today. Bellamy asked Pat to pass him the scones, and Zoe reflected that he tried to hide his emotions just as much as she did herself, sometimes.

Pat was talking to Dr. Isaac, whom the girls had taken little notice of. Isaac said, "Even Bellamy admits that Wizardkind is quite often thoroughly barbaric. Makes me glad I'm Medj!"

Zoe twisted in her seat and stared at him. Pat spoke directly to the girl. "I'm Medj too, you know."

Zoe swallowed. At home, this tall, dignified, wonderful woman might have been in a dirt-people enclosure, to be used by the men until they didn't want her any more, and then used for children to practise spells on. Both Najia and Zoe were shamed, although Zoe wore an impassive face, and Najia only looked confused.

Bellamy was again abstracted, not listening.

There was a disturbance not far away. An apparent patient in a wheelchair stood and ran, followed by his attendant. Three bodyguards moved closer to Bellamy, looking very alert and with their wands drawn. Zoe wondered if Bellamy had even noticed.

New introductions were made, and Zoe and Najia were offered the jobs they wanted. Najia was thrilled, while Zoe nodded casually. Of course they'd be wanted. It was only to be expected. They were very powerful Khatabi Ania, and could do something hardly anyone else could do.

Gina explained that they'd be using the same workroom that Bellamy was using, and that she'd be doing all the organising, and they'd be paid well. They were promised two bodyguards for each session, one to keep a watch in the waiting room, and one in the room with her.

Zoe was relieved. Twice, Kupec had stopped her from being injured, and she definitely wanted someone like reliable Kupec to look after her. Najia should be all right, as it was only the telepathic cure that made people want to attack.

The talk concluded, and Gina looked questioningly at Bellamy. He took the hint and rose to his feet. It was time for the three patients who had not been able to tolerate the telepathic cure. Now he was going to attempt what he called 'the strong magic' that he thought might kill him.

Najia, without comment, went to the door of the Observation Room. Zoe glanced at Pat, who was standing by her husband, her face very calm, before she squeezed his hand and followed Najia. The Italian Dassio, her assistant, and Pancrazio Domi, Chief Auror, were also apparently planning to watch. It was a larger audience than normal.

Zoe waited in the workroom, standing very quietly, a little behind the chair that Bellamy had been using. She didn't want to be thrown out and tried to be inconspicuous. She was acutely aware of the rising tension in the air.

Bryce was fidgeting, seeming unable to keep still, every now and then darting a piercing glance at Bellamy. It took so little effort to know his mind, like his emotions were all on the surface. He didn't want Bellamy to do it. He wanted to take his friend right away and keep him safe.

Kupec stood at the wall like a statue, his face impassive. But when Zoe looked at his mind, she found that he, too, would like to take his friend and keep him safe.

She looked towards the window of the Observation Room. The people behind were only vague shapes from this side, but she felt the acute anxiety of Pat, concealed behind a calm face. Isaac was looking at something in his hand, trying to make sure it was not seen by the others. It seemed that of all those there, only Bellamy could conceal his thoughts from her.

Gina was less concerned, and wheeled in a wizard in a wheelchair.

Bellamy addressed the patient. "You understand that I may not have the ability to do this any more. All I can do is try."

The man looked at him with total trust and hope, in spite of his warning.

Bellamy raised his wand, and Zoe felt something of him again. He'd forgotten his fear, and now was searching in his mind for the power he used to know.There was that tingle in the air that made Zoe shudder. It stopped. It seemed that he was trying to do something different now.

Bellamy stared into the distance, searching. He wanted to cure this man. Riza Khatabi had left her victim crippled and deformed. He needed the strong magic. He paced back and forward, as the man crossed his fingers and waited, silently begging in his mind.

Bellamy started again, staying stock still, holding up his wand, head cocked to the side. There was a roaring in the room, and a wind swept away Bryce's notes. But it seemed to be useless and it stopped as quickly as it started.

Zoe jumped when Bellamy swore and started pacing the floor again. "If only there was someone who could remind me!" he exclaimed to Bryce, in frustration.

The patient dropped his head, taking a deep breath. Men couldn't cry.

Bellamy addressed Zoe, making her jump. "You have a go."

Zoe tried, but a wave of her wand didn't work, and she totally failed to raise that higher intensity of magic that Bellamy could use. She didn't want to let down the great wizard, and she suggested, "The telepathic cure? Maybe a woman might not be as much resented."

"Alphonso?" asked Bellamy. "Zoe has cured several people with the telepathic cure. Maybe it would be easier for you to tolerate a woman."

Alphonso looked at the small woman, hardly more than a child. Maybe it would be easier, and he nodded, handing his wand to Kupec who stood close to Zoe. Reece and Collette drew their wands, but Alphonso ignored them. He needed to be cured. But almost as soon as she started, he almost screamed, _"No!"_ and Zoe reeled back, holding her head.

Alphonso was upset. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to hurt you. You're just a little girl!"

Little girl! Zoe was furious, and declared, "It'd take more than you to hurt me!"

Bellamy smiled, rose from the chair in which he'd thrown himself in his frustration, and said, "I'll try again."

Again, he started just with that tingle in the air, but making it more intense. Zoe put a hand to her head, but no-one was taking any notice of her, not even Najia. It went on and on. The man gave an exclamation as his legs suddenly felt strong, and he touched a hand to his face that was now normal.

Bellamy collapsed in his chair, trembling violently. Bryce shook his head. "It was not the strong magic as we know it, but you've cured him."

Bellamy was very pale. The man was stammering his thanks, but Reece only tapped him on the shoulder, to point him out the door. Bryce was tending to Bellamy, who wasn't objecting, still trembling, still pale.

Zoe watched quietly. It wasn't for himself. He hadn't even known how much he was paid. Did _her_ family ever do anything for anyone aside from themselves?

Bryce said to Dieter in an annoyed tone, "Stubborn ox says he'll have a half hour break, but is determined to try them all."

Dieter said calmly, "We could just send them away."

Bellamy was leaning forward, head in his hands, but looked up. His trembling was finally beginning to die down. "I wasted energy that time. I'll know better next time, and if I can't do them, I won't."

Bellamy made it clear which patient he wanted next, the one who'd attacked Zoe when she attempted the telepathic cure, not the one who'd attacked himself. Zoe agreed that it was best if she watched from the Observation Room for that one.

To her surprise, Bellamy went outside, though there was a chill breeze. He didn't stay long, and re-entered the room, Kupec at his shoulder.

Their audience watched as the Pika Tek patient was shown in. The patient looked ashamed of himself, and said, "I'm sorry," he said. "I didn't mean to attack the little girl. I couldn't help it."

Bellamy said, "No-one blames you, and I'll have a go this time. But it seems I can no longer use the same power as I could muster before." And he explained that he wanted to try the telepathic cure again, that he seemed to be better tolerated than Zoe, that the man should try and endure, but tell him to get out if he needed to.

"You can't do the strong magic?"

"I failed when I tried. I think it's gone."

The patient nodded. "There's no choice for me, then."

"Wand?" said Reece, and the man handed over his wand.

This time, Kupec stood almost in front of Bellamy, and very close, while both Reece and Collette had their wands raised. The patient looked at the threat, daunted.

Collette spoke to reassure, "We'll just stop you hurting anyone if we need to, nothing else."

The man took a deep breath and tried to conceal his fear.

Bellamy said casually, "I'll start in just a moment, I just need to gather my thoughts."

Zoe grinned. The tricky bastard was already in the man's mind, but he wasn't feeling it as he'd felt her.

The man shook his head suddenly, and grunted. Admiringly, Zoe listened hard, as it seemed, almost on tiptoe, Bellamy withdrew, and said, "OK, you're done!"

The man looked at him suspiciously, and raised a hand to the massive lump that had been on the side of his face, one of the lumps that had plagued him for the last three years. He beamed, "That was a dirty trick!"

Bellamy nodded. "Unethical."

The man nodded. "Unethical. Thank you."

He held out his hand, and Bellamy shook it, although Kupec stood right at his shoulder.

"A warning doesn't always help," commented Bryce.

Bellamy glanced at him. "No. It doesn't."

Zoe was surprised. They had a way of knowing when Bellamy was about to be hit by the head pain he feared. Unashamedly, she probed further into Bryce's mind. He was looking at his notes and thinking that if it was going to happen, they had to avoid giving him any further warning than that he could feel himself. Otherwise, his terror of the pain made him sufficiently tense that he was apt to fall straight into a fit. Zoe wondered if maybe the great wizard was a little cowardly after all.

Time for the third. This man was the one who had knocked him to the floor before. Zoe called, "Can I come in for this one?"

Bellamy cautioned, "He could be dangerous!"

Zoe treated his warning with contempt, and Najia looked after her cousin admiringly as she left the Observation Room and entered the Workroom.

"Galatea," Bellamy greeted the wizard with the irritated and painful skin.

Galatea looked at the floor. "Sorry I hit you, and thanks for trying again."

"There's no guarantee, you realise. I'll do my best, but there's no guarantee."

Galatea looked at him. "The fellow outside said you worked the telepathic cure, and this time it was all right, but it was too awful. I can't!"

Bellamy said, "I don't think there's any point trying that again. I'm just going to try with power."

Galatea said, "You're the great wizard. I've heard about 'the strong magic.' They say it's frightening, but I'm not easily frightened."

Zoe said defensively, "Bellamy was hurt, too, you know. He might not be able to do it."

Galatea ignored the girl, and Zoe glared at him.

This time, Bellamy again put all his effort into it, could not raise the strong magic, but exhausted himself trying.

Kupec grabbed him as he staggered and steered him to the chair. Bellamy collapsed into it, and after a moment, said simply, "I'm sorry. I can't do it."

Galatea raised his voice. "You have to do it. Try again."

Collette tapped him politely on the shoulder, and said, "It's time to leave, sir. He can't do it."

The man took a step toward Bellamy, roaring at him now. "You have to fix me!"

Bellamy ignored him, his head now in his hands.

Zoe stepped in front of him, wand raised in obvious threat, and said coldly."You yell at Bellamy once more, and warts will be the least of your worries."

The wizard looked at the girl, looked over her at Bellamy, and spat, "Call yourself a great wizard!" He turned to go.

Zoe raised her wand with every intention of acting, but Bellamy cautioned, "Zoe!"

Zoe said, still furious, "I was going to turn him into a hog."

Bellamy said, "I'm not saying he wasn't rude, but you have to understand he's very disappointed."

Zoe turned to him. "I don't understand you. You know you're terrified of getting ill, yet you try your hardest for a pig like that!"

Bellamy frowned at her, and Zoe distinctly heard his thought. Did she have totell _everyone_ he was frightened?

Dieter entered the room, not mentioning the failure, or that the new Italian spell-breaker had threatened to turn a patient into a hog. Dieter said, "Lunch here, we pick up our things at the hotel, and then we fly home."

Bellamy was restless and kept going outside and just staring at the sky, Kupec always solidly and reliably at his elbow.

Zoe was very aware of him, but made no attempt to feel what he was thinking. Sometimes, it came to her anyway. She suspected she'd been forgotten. They had to call him in for lunch. Zoe pried into the minds of those around them, totally without shame. In most of their minds was a relief that it was over, and Bellamy had not become ill.

Pat was still anxious, and so were both the healer and the medj doctor, who seemed to be remembering things from the past that only confused Zoe. Had the great wizard been a prisoner? The 'Subject?'

Shame tinged the thoughts of Isaac, things that they'd done to him. But then he looked at that device in his hand, and, to her surprise, Zoe saw an image of a small screen that showed tracings of waving lines, plus a few numbers. She felt Isaac's resignation and knew as well as he did that Bellamy would shortly be collapsed on the floor.

Isaac touched Bryce on the shoulder, and Bryce left the room with him. Bellamy didn't notice. Zoe pretended to only be eating, but seldom took her eyes quite off him.

Abruptly, Bellamy put his fork down and said to Pat he was just going outside. Kupec was eating, but rose and was at his elbow again. Zoe glanced at Kupec, and knew how worried he was. Bellamy was normally a lot more considerate.

Zoe didn't follow, but left her meal and waited just outside the door, watching as he and Kupec started to walk across the square, to the pleasure of the crowd, who, even now, watched.

Najia came and joined her cousin, and smiled her delight. "To think we'll be working here."

Zoe said, "They think he's going to collapse at any moment, but no-one has told him."

Najia looked at her in surprise, and Zoe said, "You may not think he's so romantic if you see him having a fit!"

"Because of Grandmother Riza?"

"Because of Grandmother Riza."

Suddenly, Bellamy turned and started hurrying back to the concealment of inside. Zoe whispered to Najia, "He's terribly frightened and he wants to hide. He knows for sure now he's about to be ill."

An instant later, she screamed in pain, which dissolved into shrieking sobs, in pain because he was in pain. It was like she was inside his head, and there was a black hole there that was all a tearing, cutting pain.

Najia held her cousin, telling her urgently that she had to block it, that it was not her pain. She had to block it.

Kupec muffled the struggles of Bellamy in his arms, and took a few swift strides, getting him out of sight. Bellamy became limp and silent, but his eyes showed the agony that attacked him.

They put him down gently on a bed in a back room, already waiting for him. Isaac asked Najia to please get Zoe away. She was too noisy. Bryce glanced at the girl, told her to wait, and instead, put a silencing shield around the room where Bellamy lay.

Zoe continued to sob, feeling his pain, quite unable to block it.

It took fifteen minutes, but then Zoe relaxed in her cousin's arms as the pain stopped.

Bryce came out of the silenced room. "He'll be right now," he said to Pat.

Pat was relieved. "It was only about fifteen minutes. He got off lightly."

Cynthia glanced at Zoe, finally quiet, and asked, "Does it usually go longer than that?"

Pat nodded. "Usually longer."

Bryce's thought was loud. Hours and hours sometimes, and again and again, sometimes, a new attack only minutes after he woke. Zoe knew now why Bellamy had been frightened. If there was anything he was _not,_ it was a coward.

Pat touched Zoe gently on her tear stained cheek and asked kindly if she was all right now.

Zoe sniffed and sat up. "He said I had to learn to make a better shield. It was my own fault."

Najia said, "You've never been like that when you've been close to other sick people."

"I've never felt pain like that! And I could feel his mind, too. And it's just like he thinks, there's a black hole, but I think it might be like a solid shield he made himself, and not damage that Riza left."

Pat looked thoughtfully at her, and then called over Bryce. Zoe repeated her words, but was unable to clarify them further.

Najia was talking to Pat. "They wanted me to have his child."

"He told me."

"They'd tried before, several times, but no-one succeeded. They said some men just don't like girls very much."

Pat smiled, and Najia asked, "What are your girls' names?"

"Susan, Lesley, and Mary."

"I thought it must have been that. There was a new bedroom prepared with bars on the window, and an external lock. They said a girl called Mary might be coming soon."

Pat shivered. They had been after Mary.

It took over an hour, but Bellamy came out of the other room, pale and shaky, staggering once. Pat joined him, shielding him from too much curiosity and too many anxious enquiries. Najia and Zoe only said good-bye briefly, as he was still so obviously unwell.

Gina made final arrangements with Italy's new spell-breakers, and handed Najia a pay-packet. "For you both, but not separated out, as you said." Zoe nodded, and looked at her cousin. "We're partners - the Kasey cousins."

Najia squeezed her arm. Partners.

_ **x**_

In November, Zoe and Najia Kasey started working as spell-breakers for Italy, just one day a week at first, but soon more as word spread. There was a sudden upsurge in the numbers at the end of November, when the Stonehouse sisters left England. The girls were no longer cut off from news of the wizarding world, and heard that Henry Bellamy was again very ill. Maybe he would not recover.

Zoe comforted Najia. He recovered before, why shouldn't he now? Somehow, Zoe couldn't imagine him dead.

Najia took on a new lover, and she and Zoe prepared for their second Christmas in Rome. This time, there were others interested in them, aside from Najia's temporary lovers. Gina made sure that they were invited to their DMT Christmas Party as well as some smaller events, pleased when they attended. Zoe thought it imprudent to become too involved with other people, but Najia was more relaxed.

Again, they exchanged presents just before dinner, Christmas Eve. They knew now it was really supposed to be Christmas Day that presents were exchanged, but decided they'd have their own personal tradition.

There were two gifts sent from Pat and Bellamy, a device for checking that incoming mail was safe, and a set of six attractive children's books, which Pat sent. There was a note that said that she knew they were grown-up, but Henry had written the books, and they might enjoy them anyway.

A few days after Christmas, Zoe felt a warning, and retreated behind some shelves in the bookshop as Maslechi Khatabi-Richi asked the shopkeeper about Zoe and Najia Kasey - what they looked like, where they lived.

"Zoe and Najia Kasey?" the woman said. "I see them now and then. Swedish, I think, tall and blonde. They went home for Christmas, so would probably be found in Stockholm."

Zoe breathed a silent sigh of relief.

The man was disappointed, but thanked Pia with courtesy before leaving.

Pia waited a moment, and said, "All right, Zoe. He's gone."

Zoe pretended she'd not been frightened, and only asked how many there had been. "Only one here, but there was at least one other waiting outside. If you want to avoid them, you should slip out back."

Zoe nodded, forgetting to pay for the spell-book she had in her hand.

Pia said, "You know, it _is _Christmas, and your mother and father must be worrying about you."

Zoe laughed, and said, "I come from an unusual family. Believe me, my parents are _not_ worrying about my welfare."

***chapter end***


	8. Chapter 8

_Notes__: Terms used: Wizardkind are Anirage, muggles are medj, or Medjkind, known by the Khatabis as dirt-people. _

_Khatabi__: Haru, Suma, Bouchra, Tashfin. __Khatabi-Vrie:__ Elders of the family. Hicham was Khatabi-Vrie. Khatabi-Richi, servant class. Abensur, Enclosure overseer. __The slaves__: Carol, leader in Enclosure 2._

_Disclaimer: Harry Potter & his world belongs to J. K. Rowling. By the time of this story, Harry Potter is known as Bellamy. _

_Chapter 8:_

_Morocco:_

Akila Khatabi, currently known as Akila Jones, was raising her son, Tristan, in Europe. He went to an ordinary wizarding school, and was a pleasant, freckle-faced lad of thirteen. Akila was a little fearful when she was approached, as she'd gone without permission and taken her son. Pervez and Diethard were persuasive, and the old Family loyalty was a part of her.

With the reminder, she became ambitious for her son. Akila was not powerful, and was now sterilised, but Tristan was not sterilised, and Tristan was now a potential breeding male and fighting wizard for the family. With all those others gone, Tristan could quickly rise to a position of leadership. Akila and her one son returned to Morocco.

Suma and Driss conferred. There were two boys of thirteen now, Tashfin and Tristan. Driss suggested that two girls should be taken, perhaps from that powerful Indian family. Suma thought about it, and disagreed. Tashfin looked negroid, Tristan looked European. But the Khatabis were primarily mixes of Japanese and Arabic. They should look like that.

There was an Egyptian family, and they had the probable advantage of having Arabic as a language in common, even if they didn't know Italian or French or English. Investigations were made. Two young women, preferably intelligent, and, if at all possible, with considerable magical talent.

"Pretty," said Driss. "Make them pretty. It'll be easier to get young teenagers to perform if they're pretty."

Suma looked at him in surprise. "Might that be a problem?"

"If the girls are reluctant, even if they're restrained and silenced, it could be a problem."

Suma nodded. "Pretty then, and young, but not too young. Sixteen, say."

Abensur advised Carol that Tashfin's practical lessons would be on hold for a while, resumed when the new boy, Tristan, had caught up in knowledge. It would be more convenient if they were taken through the more advanced lessons together. It was a temporary reprieve, and Carol was pleased. She was grateful that Abensur kept her informed.

Abensur said casually, "We'll probably be getting a few new young ones for Enclosure 1, as some of the men have requested."

Carol frowned heavily.

Abensur was surprised. "What's the matter?"

Carol answered coldly, "I don't approve of bullies raping young girls!"

Abensur was annoyed, "You forget yourself!"

Carol concealed her sudden fear. She'd been punished before for insolence, but not for many years. She looked at the floor. To her relief, Abensur didn't punish. All the same, she wouldn't take the chance again.

Maybe because she'd taken responsibility as leader, the apathy of a slave had not affected Carol as it had many of the older ones. There were some whom Carol suspected would not even try and fight, if, one day, they were ordered to stay still for a Death Curse, for instance. Connie, Mary, Bernice, Clarence, a dozen others. Too many years of slavery, and each of them had suffered severe punishment. That had been the last cull, and the leader of the time, Tenia, had ordered total noncooperation with the wizards. When Tenia was killed, the misbehaviour continued, more stubbornly than before. Some never recovered from that sort of treatment.

Carol had been moved over from Enclosure 1 only after the punishments had ceased, and been elected leader straight away. The ones there had been in a bad way by then. Hilde had taken over as leader in Enclosure 1.

The younger ones were better. As far as she knew, there had been no severe punishments since the last time Valencio had been punished, though they were very well aware they had to behave. They hadn't seen a cull, and few had felt the Spell of Pain.

The request for new girls was relayed to Suma, who visited Enclosure 1, inspected the attractive young women it held, and stated firmly that new girls were not required. The request of servants was not sufficient reason to have girl children kidnapped, and, although it hadn't been specified, she suspected that it was children they had in mind. Suma was not actually convinced that there was a need for an Enclosure 1 at all, when there were plenty of free women of the Family frustrated for lack of sex.

Pervez was disappointed. He had his eye on a pair of identical twins, but they were not twelve yet, and the ruling was that they had to be twelve. He preferred it that way. To go to a lot of trouble to find a lovely child and have her die the first night, always annoyed him. He guessed the ban wouldn't last forever, and they had beauty enough, even if they were as old as eighteen when he had the chance to present them to Abensur for the collection. He hoped they'd stay virgin. The Khatabis always liked virgins best.

Eleven-year-old twins, Elisabeth and Marion Kunz, were learning to play tennis. They thought Mr. Kandaka, an acquaintance of their coach, was just a nice man whom they saw now and then. They had lessons in English, too. Their father would never remember just why he insisted on the English lessons.

_**x**_

There was a perceived need for some of those from Japan to be checked on the serious curses. They may have qualified as Fighters in their youth, but they'd gone into different specialties, and now that the Family had lost all their most feared fighting wizards, more were needed, even if only Khatabi-Richi. This time, Suma was not consulted. Everyone knew that a woman might not see the necessity for Enclosure 3. Suma didn't know Enclosure 3 even existed.

Abensur was delighted when he heard that Enclosure 3 would be needed. The latest two contingents of senior students had been trained in Japan, and the previous overseer had been in charge last time the one in Morocco was used. The prisoners had been wrecks by the time it was finished. But now Abensur would have a chance. He wanted to see how long he could keep new prisoners calm, believing that nothing serious would happen to them and that they'd eventually be released.

He conferred with Haru. Haru was agreeable. It was better if the dirt-people didn't resist. It was not that they ever helped themselves by resisting, but if they didn't have to paralyse and stun and silence, the lesson went more smoothly.He seldom had any trouble with the ones in Enclosure 2, just a couple who always had to be put under semi-paralysis before the Spell of Pain was practised. And even No. 15 had behaved himself the last time, standing close to Valencio, apparently taking courage from the younger man.

Abensur chose the type of prisoners. Men, English, because he thought them less likely to believe in imminent death than others from less stable cultures. Germans or Scandinavians would be good, too, but might not have a common language with the Khatabis. Abensur would attend every lesson, and use memory change when needed. And he suggested to Haru that from now on, they would be known as medj, not the dirt-people. The contempt in that word was too indicative of their eventual fate.

A busload of British workers was collected from Algeria. Some were rejected, two old men, three women, and any who knew Arabic. The remaining thirty-two found themselves in a surprisingly comfortable prison. There was a swimming pool and an extensive garden, even two hot spas, a surprise considering the climate. They were fed that night very well indeed, and had every comfort, although escape seemed impossible. Their guards carried rifles, and there were a lot of them. The following day, there would be 'Orientation.'

Breakfast was served in the large dining room. The prisoners were thoroughly confused, but they knew the meaning of the rifles carried by the guards. They didn't know that most of them would probably drop their rifles and use their wands if there was a need.

The prisoners were prudent. There had been no need to draw a wand_._

Abensur addressed the new group as they drank coffee. They were to be prisoners for a time, where they would be used for various purposes, none of which would harm them. In two or three months, they would no longer be required and would be released. It was only then that Abensur went on to explain that they were Anirage, or wizards in other words, and subjects were needed for trainees to practise spells on. Abensur nominated a man to join him at the front. He came unwillingly, but he came.

"Some of you might not believe in magic, so I'm going to demonstrate."

He drew his wand, and the man looked at him curiously. Suddenly his legs collapsed, as Abensur explained that it was a simple Paralysis Spell. Quickly, he freed the man, as the murmur grew louder. He raised his voice, "Spells need to be practised, but they're all reversible and you will not be hurt."

Abensur waited until the excited, frightened chatter died down. A hand was quite respectfully raised. "How do we know you're going to let us go afterward?"

Abensur said, "Why not?"

The man was quiet, but Abensur addressed his unspoken question. "You will not be able to make trouble for us because we will make it so that you do not remember about wizards or magic. You will be returned believing that you were taken for ransom. There is even now a ransom demand being sent, although negotiations will break down quite quickly. You will be released when we're ready, and we will not be needing any ransom."

A man said, very doubtfully, "Can you do that? Make us forget?"

Abensur said, "I am going to demonstrate for you, as I will demonstrate, in advance, every spell that you will be subjected to. That way, you will know they're reversible, you will not be afraid, and you can have confidence that you will be released, as I say."

He nominated another man. It was best that way. Just tell them, and allow no arguments or reluctance to stop what he planned. He thought it even a good thing if some minor force was needed the first day, so that they knew it was useless to fight the powerful wizards.

This time, he had the man take a chair, and hit it as hard as he could against a table. Breakfast crockery smashed, and leftover food became a mess. Casually, he said to one of the guards, "Clean up."

The rifle was put down, a wand was waved, food was vanished, and crockery was repaired, and stacked neatly. The medj watched, mouths open.

Now that the first part was done, one by one the guards left the room briefly, and the rifles were returned to the store cupboard in the corridor that ran alongside the dining room, alongside the actual 'enclosure' part. Three classrooms and a few offices were on the other side of the corridor. After that, the wizards only had their wands drawn, but the medj were quickly becoming aware of the power of a wand in the hands of a wizard.

Abensur smiled. "At this point, someone always wonders if they can work magic, as well, if they only have a wand." He nominated another man, who stayed in his seat, frightened.

"Come on," Abensur said impatiently, "I'm only going to give you a wand so you can try and work magic."

The man shrank further into his seat.

Abensur pointed his wand, the man's eyes went blank, and he rose, and went to the position where he was wanted.

Abensur lowered his wand, "The Spell of Compulsion, one way of controlling a person. There are many others, including the infliction of pain. I am hoping that will not be necessary with your group. All you have to do is be obedient and helpful, and you will be released unharmed."

He asked the man if he needed to take further action to make him stay where he was. The man shook his head, still silent, still terrified. So Abensur turned back to the first man, raised his wand, told him to forget about hitting a table with a chair, and remember instead that he'd been made to turn a somersault. He turned back to the men. "Question him."

"Jack, what did he make you do?"

Jack said, "I didn't think I _could _turn a somersault. I don't think I've done it since I was ten."

The laughter was of relief. It was as Abensur said, there would no need to kill them, as they only needed to make them forget.

Abensur, smiling, nodded at Jack, "You may sit."

Abensur held up a wand for them to see, and then used it to conjure a chair. He said, "Conjuring is quite difficult magic, but now I'll show you a very simple spell, usually the first learnt by children."

He said a word, clearly, and a food bowl on the table moved. He explained, "You point the wand, focus your mind on what you want, and say the word, which is as much needed to help concentration, as it is to actually work the magic."

He smiled at the man who stood close, shivering. "Any point in asking you to have a go, or should I ask for a volunteer?"

It seemed Bernie was the only man who knew how frightened they should be. None of the others wanted to be prisoners, and it probably wouldn't be pleasant, but they were filled with relief that it was not a lot worse. The afternoon and night spent in uncertainty, surrounded by guards, had been a good strategy.

Abensur allowed several men then to take the wand, and try to move the bowl.

"Are you sure it's a real wand?" said one sceptically.

Abensur held out a hand, and was given the wand. He waved it, and the man had donkey ears. There was a tense silence until he waved it again and Rick was normal. The sigh of relief was palpable.

Abensur answered their questions, many of them truthfully. He had every intention of treating them as well as possible. It was only that in the last weeks, the spells that were used would not leave them in any condition for release.

Once the questions dried up, Abensur said that they had to line up. Fear made a resurgence, but Abensur only made a large number appear on a bare upper arm, as well as on the backs of both hands. An assistant wrote down each number, with the name. Abensur maintained that it was better to call the prisoners by name where possible, but the numbers were convenient.

He continued to talk to each, quietly, reassuring. The 'work' would be spread around, and if a person was told he was free for the day, that would not be changed. The work would be spread evenly. Each spell would be demonstrated before they faced the classroom, so they would know not to be frightened. His words were repetitive, but they were being effective.

The next step would be more frightening, and Abensur was ready for revolt. The guards had been prepared. Only Paralysis or the Snail Spell, not punishment at this stage, unless they tried to attack.

No. 1 held out his arm as requested, but tensed as a leather strap was placed around it. There were three metal rings attached, evenly spaced around it. The wand was tapped to it, and the join disappeared. The man stared in fright at the ominous cuff. Abensur spoke calmly. "In class, every time, you will be restrained with these, so we won't need as many guards. They'll be removed, of course, when it's time for your release."

The man jerked his other wrist away, as Abensur reached for it, a wand flashed, and suddenly he could only move very slowly. "The Snail Spell," Abensur said calmly. "Another method of control. It will be one of the lessons tomorrow, along with the Paralysis Spell and the Stun Spell."

He finished with the other wrist, and knelt, doing each ankle. Later, when the state of mind of the prisoners was not as critical, others would do menial jobs. Right now, he preferred to handle them himself.

He said to the guards, loudly and clearly so the prisoners would hear, "If anyone else tries to revolt, use the Stun Spell. That way, they'll have seen each of the spells to be used tomorrow. If any of them attacks one of us, of course, we'll give them a taste of the Spell of Pain."

"The Spell of Pain?" a prisoner asked timidly.

Abensur nodded, and said in a matter of fact tone, "Very severe pain. If held for much more than ten minutes or so, it can kill."

They nearly always used the Spell of Pain to punish. It left no marks, and hardly any were willing to risk it a second time. The pain was extreme.

The innocuous spells that Abensur said needed to be practised, were those that children would do. Some were learned in Junior school, by ten, eleven, and twelve-year-olds. For the first few days, the exercise was to reassure the prisoners. Some of the Fighters thought it quite funny, but Haru thought a little trouble well worthwhile, in order to have the prisoners preferably as quiet and obedient as those in Enclosure 2.

There was no more revolt, and Abensur was very pleased. He nominated a man who came forward, and was stunned and then revived. And then he took out a large jar of purple lotion. "When a man falls to the Stun spell or the Paralysis Spell, there are sometimes bruises. This is anti-bruising lotion, and you'll find if you rub it on your bruise, it will go away within minutes."

This statement was the most reassuring of all. If their keepers cared about bruises, they wouldn't be being badly hurt.

Each of the men now had cuffs around both wrists and both ankles. In the classrooms, there were upright bars, floor to ceiling, with straps that would clip on to the rings in the cuffs. Up to fifteen men could be held helpless in each classroom, without additional magic, convenient to be used.

The restraints would not be needed for at least ten days, Abensur thought, maybe longer. But if they were used from the start, the men would not fight when the time came that they were needed. When limbs were vanished, for instance, though they'd only need a few for that, as each man had four limbs, and, of course, each limb could be vanished bit by bit. That spell was irreversible, and the victims would be killed afterwards, though Abensur planned to say they'd been released.

Two weeks later, Abensur gave a copy of the list to Rick, who scanned it. "Bajet Stun Curse," Abensur told him. "It's difficult to perform, which is why we need so many. Each one tends to be confused for a while afterwards, and we don't want to damage the person by doing it again too quickly."

"What's the difference to a normal stunning?"

"Much deeper unconsciousness, and it lasts months or until reversed, rather than a half hour or so." He added, "Also, if we're in doubt of the effectiveness of a particular wizard's spell, we may leave the victim overnight, just to check."

Rick sighed, and said, "I'll tell them." They had still not been seriously hurt, and two of their number had seen Bernie and Rod told carefully about an escape from a wandering nomadic tribe, and seen them taken away to be released. They said the early release was because a guard had to practise the Spell of Pain, which was unpleasant for the victims. They hadn't complained, and the early release had been a reward for their good behaviour.

Fifteen men had their wrists and ankles clipped, each to two vertical bars, about sixty centimetres apart, as had been done from the start. The stun would not frighten them, and Abensur sat in a chair and read a book, as the trainees, in turn, stunned the men. Haru held a monitor briefly to each man's forehead before nodding.

Rick said suddenly, "Reverse one of them, so we can see." Every now and then, he suspected they were being conned. But Haru only reversed the spell of the first man, who staggered to his feet, and looked around, confused.

Haru nodded to the next student, "Continue."

The men walked shakily back to the enclosure, and because they were confused, one started to go in the wrong direction and pushed at the wizard who stood in his way. The wizard aimed his wand, but Abensur said, in a warning tone, "Botan..."

Botan lowered his wand, and only turned the man around, quite gently, and shoved him in the direction of his companions.

"They'll be right in a while," Abensur told the other prisoners. "Just make sure to keep them away from the swimming pool, as they might drown as they are at the moment."

Tom looked at him with hatred, and Abensur made a mental note.

"I'll be here same time in the morning, only six required tomorrow, none of those used today."

"What spell?"

"Hendrix Spell and the Spell of Compulsion." But when he demonstrated the Hendrix Curse, it was the innocuous Reik Spell that he used instead. They'd already seen the Spell of Compulsion, and they didn't ask for that to be demonstrated again. They hated that one. They would remember afterwards what they'd been made to do, but it was flavoured with the feeling of calm happiness. None of them so far had been able to resist.

This would be a test, to hold five men calm and happy under Compulsion, while they saw the first bleed to death under the Hendrix Curse. One managed to throw it off, and shrieked and struggled, but he was unable to free himself from the restraints.

"Who did No. 31?" asked Haru calmly.

One of the wizards indicated.

"Try again."

"While he's in that state?"

"You'll have to concentrate."

No. 31, Nigel, saw the wand raised to him, saw Tom, on the floor, take a last shallow breath and his eyes become sightless. He struggled frantically, but four others just stood, calmly, even happily. After a while, his eyes became as blank as the others and he stopped his struggles.

Haru looked at him assessingly. Was the trance still too shallow? He instructed the student to undo his wrists and ankles, conjure a large sharp knife, and have his subject use it to stab one of the other prisoners. After successful completion of the exercise, the man was taken back to his place. The bleeding man was healed with a spell. He hadn't even flinched, held in a state of unquestioning, obedient happiness.

Abensur wondered how many would be left alive to have their memories changed. There were two, and again, the dead ones were vanished, and the live ones remembered watching as the others' memories were changed, the wrist and ankle cuffs removed, numbers on skin removed, and they were escorted to where arrangements would be made for their release.

They were getting into serious curses now, and Abensur was very curious to know how long his reassurances were going to hold up as the remaining prisoners saw their companions leave and not return.

Two weeks later, the twenty-three prisoners who remained, tried to attack him as he went to see Rick in the morning. But the guards had been expecting this, wands flashed, and prisoners were paralysed on the floor.

Abensur had been knocked over, but now he stood, said calmly, "Three minutes Spell of Pain for each."

He waited, as one by one, the men screamed in agony. Afterwards, he said to Rick, kindly, "Nine of your number have already been released - trust me." And then, routinely, "I'll be back in half an hour for those on the list."

Rick was feeling sick after the three minutes torture he'd been subjected to, and still sat on the floor, head in hands. He answered hopelessly, "It makes no difference, does it? Whether Tom and Bernie and all the others are free or dead. We can't do anything to stop you doing exactly what you want."

The eight people on the list that day didn't come back. Fifteen remained. After another two weeks, none remained. All the Fighters were competent, although they would practise their speed against each other for the next several weeks, mostly using the disarming spell, and unarmed combat was also now a requirement. Some of the old-fashioned ones still considered things like punching and kicking far beneath the dignity of wizards, but Fudo pointed out that the notorious Valencio had several times shown himself capable of knocking out a Khatabi Fighter. Fudo headed the security forces.

Enclosure 3 was cleaned, and the neglected gardens were again tended. There would be a need for a new intake when Tristan and Tashfin were ready for Advanced Combat and Control.

_**x**_

In February, Tashfin turned fourteen and in March, Tristan turned fourteen. They were young for it, but Abensur nominated Angini and Mariabella, in Enclosure 1, to teach them about sex. The women were experienced, and docile. They would do as ordered.

They were asked about it afterwards, and Angini said, "He was sweet. He liked it, but he took a while before he wanted to do anything."

Mariabella said coolly, "Tashfin's a Khatabi, through and through."

The following evening, Tashfin strutted to Enclosure 1, inspected the line-up, and pointed to blonde Ingrid, the youngest of the inmates. Ingrid, expressionless, accompanied him to the working bedroom.

In the classroom where Suma used to preside, Chizu Khatabi-Richi now taught. She put a pair of dolls on the desk of Bahiti and a pair on Hasina's desk. They were fourteen and sixteen, kidnapped from two well known Aniragi families in Egypt, and had been prisoners for a month. They were allowed no wand, but each had a comfortable bedroom, a sitting room, a bathroom, and a walled area of garden to themselves where they could wander freely. There was an intervening door in the sitting room, so they could be together when they wanted. They were even allowed to wander the grounds, accompanied by two guards. Repeatedly, they were told that they could become important members of the Khatabi Family, they only had to be obedient. Repeatedly, they were assured they would not be mistreated.

The lesson proceeded. The girls had no prior information in which to base their judgement, but they were suspicious. Once they were clear on what was planned, each declared that they would _not _submit. The end bedroom was already prepared for a reluctant girl, but now a second one had straps attached to the bed frame.

Bouchra watched from a distance. She was very sorry for the girls, but unsure how she could intervene. The guards were not likely to allow her anywhere near. She sighed. Unwilling breeders, just like herself.

Chizu almost begged the girls to behave when the time came for their matings to the two boys, but Suma said that seeing the boys were so young, it was probably better that they be restrained in any case.

Bahiti was the younger, and Suma said that Tristan should mate with her. Hasina was sixteen, and Tashfin would have her, the same night.

The girls were still thoroughly rebellious, and screamed and struggled when it came time. But they were silenced with a spell, their wrists and ankles had cuffs sealed on, and they were firmly restrained. The boys were so young, and Suma looked at Hasina whose eyes glared back. "Blindfold them, as well," she finally said. She didn't like it, but new Khatabis were needed desperately. Quite gently, she arranged Hasina's white mating robe, modestly concealing the helpless body. She caressed the forehead of the girl, who spat at her.

Suma stepped back, worked the Conception Promoting spell, and hoped it would work. She'd never had occasion to practise it. She did the same with Bahiti.

The boys were being primed. Their duty to the Family. Tashfin grinned with anticipation. He hadn't had a virgin before. Did they really bleed?

Tristan wasn't as sure. But their Family had lost so many. Aside from Hicham, whom they seldom saw, they were the only full members left, the only ones who could get the new ones pregnant. If he and Tashfin didn't do their duty by the Family, there would _be_ no more Family.

They were each instructed to drink a potion, not told that the potions were different. Tashfin didn't need any extra virility - he'd had to be forbidden to go to the Enclosure for the previous two nights, and he was already asking for new girls to be brought in. Tristan was in need of something to reduce nerves, as well as something to ensure that he was very much wanting.

Red mating robes, though the boys had their wands with them, of course. Unless a prisoner, a wizard always had his wand close.

Tashfin smiled with pleasure at the sight of Hasina restrained. Her helplessness pleased him immensely. This was better then the dirt-girls, who didn't resist. Casually, he pulled open her robe, and studied the exposed genitals, even using his wand to make a brighter light. He probed with a finger. The sixteen year old girl could make no sound, and could not move sufficient to avoid the curious exploration.

Tashfin slipped off his robe, and took her as fast and hard as he could. Then he got off, and again studied her genitals, again putting in a finger. There was blood, and a definite difference. Tashfin smiled in pleasure. He liked virgins.

He was supposed to do it twice that night. He did it five times. After the first time, he removed the Silencing Spell and the blindfold. He liked it better like that.

Tristan didn't know how to remove any spells, but sat on the edge of the bed and stroked the girl gently. "They say I've got to do it," he said, and gently touched the blindfold, sealed on with magic. "I don't want to really, but it's my duty." His hand caressed a breast through the material of the robe. He lay down beside her, and continued to stroke.

Suma had her fingers crossed about Tristan. Driss had told her, he was soft, and he hadn't been brought up to the way things were done here.

But Tristan was an adolescent boy, who'd been given a potion that had him wanting, desperately. "Tell me if I hurt you," he said, and gently, almost lovingly, he positioned himself, and tried to press himself in very gently. He was confused when it didn't work, and finally remembered what he'd been told. He had to thrust hard, she was a virgin. He nearly pulled away for a moment. Would she really bleed? But it had to be done, and he did it as gently as he knew how. And then Bahiti was bleeding, too.

Both girls were successfully mated.

Disobedience could not be allowed, and no protests stopped the girls being returned to the bedrooms the following night. Bahiti didn't resist, but Hasina resisted as hard as she could. It made no difference. Whatever they did, as long as the boys cooperated, there would be a week of mating, a delay of a few days, and then they would almost certainly be confirmed pregnant.

When Tristan insisted that Bahiti was being obedient, they allowed her to be unrestrained. But now she was no longer silenced and wore no blindfold, and instead of screaming and cursing, she talked softly, persuasively. And when Tristan mated with her, it appeared to him to be an act of lovemaking.

Bahiti and Hasina had no opportunity to be together any more. The door between sitting rooms was locked, and the walls between their prisons was protected by a silencing shield.

No-one rebuked Tashfin for being rough. There were too few Khatabis left to risk alienating the boy, and Haru had reported indications of enhanced power. Tashfin was extremely valuable.

The week of mating finished. The girls were again allowed to see each other. Final spells to promote conception were made, but it was only when both girls were confirmed pregnant, and both girls said humbly that they were prepared to accept their new home and do what they were told, that they were allowed more freedom. They were not allowed their wands.

It took some arranging. Akila, Tristan's mother, was taking the younger children on an excursion, Zahra, ten, Najet, seven, and Jiro, three. Tristan met both Hasina and Bahiti at a designated spot, stunned their guard from behind, presented them each with a stolen wand, and joined the excursion, the gate guard assuming the group had permission.

Akila had taken a large amount of money, and the group fled, crossing borders by apparation, which Akila had learned not long before her return to Morocco. She'd never learned to take a passenger when apparating, but did it anyway, one by one. There were no mishaps, and they made it to Europe and went into hiding.

The Khatabis had lost all their remaining children except for Tashfin. Suma was beginning to wish they could lose the strutting, bullying boy. But when he threatened to leave if his demands were not met, three girls of barely twelve joined those in Enclosure 1. He fixed permanent wrist and ankle cuffs himself, and marked the right wrist cuff of each, bright red, as an indicator that they were for his exclusive use.

Two blonde children, and one with a mop of raven black hair. The first night he took Evita, restrained wrist and ankle, as he enjoyed. The second night, he took Inge, but he never came back for Brigitta. Instead, Tashfin was found dead with not a mark on him. Someone had hit him with a Death Curse.

Suma wasn't sure whether to be upset or not. Tashfin was clever, showed indications of enhanced power, and would probably have taken leadership from her by the time he was twenty. But it was her Family, and Tashfin could have saved her Family. The importance of their great Family was another thing that had been drummed into every Khatabi since earliest childhood.

Bouchra wasn't the slightest bit sorry she'd killed him. It was the first really decisive action she'd taken since organising the poisoning of the chief culprits in the terrible affair of the six-year-old twins. It occurred to no-one to blame fat old Aunt Bouchra for the death of Tashfin.

The investigation was half-hearted. Fudo had already declined to confirm Tashfin's request to have a servant whipped, but once he was seventeen, he could do it on his own authority. And all Abensur had done was to request that he not too much traumatise the new girls.

Abensur informed Carol that they would not be needed for a while, and wondered if he'd be ordered to clear Enclosure 2. It would be a shame to lose them when they were so well trained, and it would make those in Enclosure 1 restless. There was Valencio, but Yiko was dead now, and no-one knew where Narzu-Han was, except that it was assumed he'd still be in Turkey. If he was ordered, how would he go about it so that they were not frightened or hurt?

It was the sort of problem that Abensur relished. For the next several nights, he occupied himself devising strategies to empty Enclosure 2 and yet not have a single one upset. The ones in Enclosure 1 would be upset, of course, when all the older ones were suddenly gone.

It was his habit to drop in to Enclosure 2 every week or so, to give Carol a chance to make any complaints or requests. That time, he saw Valencio close, the dark eyes resting on him. That was a complication - that the boy might be able to tell what he was thinking. Any course of action would have to take that into account.

The three twelve-year-olds had the wrist and ankle cuffs removed, but Abensur put a coloured wrist band on Brigitta, marking her for his own exclusive use, though it was not a privilege that Khatabi-Richi were really allowed. Not for a year or so, though. He preferred his girls go through puberty, before taking them. A Khatabi could overrule him, of course. But who was left?

Inge and Evita went into general use, not liking it, but having no choice. In the daytime, the three girls had 'School,' with Kaede. Kaede was the oldest prisoner there, brown skinned, French Polynesian. Kaede had seen so many broken-hearted children over the years, and tried hard to help them adjust to a life of slavery.

Quang, Nusa'pei and Abensur, three successive enclosure overseers, knew she was of value. She was the only prisoner left, aside from Clarence, who dated back to the new intake of girls for Enclosure 1, after the tantrum of Ajhmed.

Clarence had also survived two culls. Kosin was not the only one who considered an intact male helped keep the women content, once in Enclosure 2.

***chapter end***


	9. Chapter 9

_Chapter 9:_

_Rome:_

Zoe and Najia Kasey enjoyed a more satisfactory life now, but Zoe decreed that they keep their small flat in a medj area, and on no account, would they tell anyone their address.

Gina looked after them as well as she could. She was what they called the Spell-breaking Coordinator, and had a lot to do with them. She pitied the girls who seemed to be all alone. And their secrecy about their past, and even about where they lived, made them a bit of a mystery. None of the Italians knew they were Khatabis. When she noticed how wary they were, she prevailed on Domi to allocate extra bodyguards to keep them safe. She suspected they were runaways and she wondered what from.

Zoe continued to use the telepathic cure when needed, which, luckily, was not often. But the bodyguard assigned to her was not as effective as Kupec, Collette and Reece, all of whom had worked with Bellamy when he did that sort of cure. When a man went berserk and started to strangle, Tancredo just stared with his mouth open, and it was Najia who brought him down with a stun spell, the first time in her life that she'd tried it.

Once Zoe was in a condition to talk again, she tore into Tancredo furiously, while he tried to defend himself. Finally, he looked away and spoke roughly. "You have no right to rebuke me. I am an auror. I've even had awards for bravery. What are you? Just an ugly little girl!"

Zoe gave a shriek of rage, her wand flashed and the handsome young auror had donkey ears. His wand was raised to retaliate, but Zoe disarmed him. It seemed she was a natural fighter, and didn't need practice. Gina was called urgently by Sidonia, the healer, to try and sort things out.

Zoe still trembled in rage. Tancredo stared back at her, equally furious. Gina finally smoothed things down. Zoe would have a different bodyguard, and Zoe had to fix Tancredo's ears.

Zoe turned her back and said huffily that the healer could fix his ears.

Sidonia tried, and failed. Najia tried and failed.

Gina said, "Zoe, please! You could lose your job!"

Zoe glanced at her victim, casually waved her wand, and then said to Gina. "All right then, I've fixed him, though he doesn't deserve it. But we want a raise, Najia and I. We're irreplaceable, and we deserve more money."

Gina sighed, and said she'd look into it.

Tancredo was replaced with a more experienced auror, and Zoe and Najia had a raise. But next time it appeared that the telepathic cure was called for, Zoe glanced at the new bodyguard, and said that the patient had to be referred to Bellamy, who could do anything.

The girls were no longer isolated from the world of Anirage, and in their different ways, were both a little obsessed with Henry Bellamy. Najia started getting a weekly magazine from Britain, _Pat's Mag_, and then their daily newspaper, _The Aniragi News, _though it was always days late when it came.

There were often articles about Henry Bellamy, and just once, on the society pages, there were photographs of him at a DMT function. Zoe pointed to one, and said, "We met Cynthia Agnew, remember?"

Bellamy was in dress robes, and Najia looked very closely, and kept the cutting. The article that accompanied the photographs remarked that Bellamy always had his dog with him, _'__Just one of his many eccentricities.' _

Najia said, "_I _don't think he's eccentric!"

Zoe looked at her in amusement. Najia still hero-worshipped the man.

Every day, they worked on learning more magic, buying more spell-books, and practising on each other. Zoe said one day that it was a shame they couldn't practise the more powerful curses they should know - Cha Keeyo, the Rindi Curse, The Compulsion Spell - and the Death Curse, of course.

Najia said quietly, "Why do we actually need them?"

Zoe stared at her. They were part of basic education - weren't they? They'd both been taught the incantations, and they knew the men could all do them. Zoe swallowed, and said, "Well, we need the Death Curse, anyway."

Najia agreed. They might certainly need the Death Curse. Zoe thought that Memory Change and Compulsion might also be extremely useful, though she acknowledged there was little actual need for those curses that only punished.

By the beginning of April, the girls were becoming more and more nervous when in the Aniragia. Zoe, especially, was frankly jumpy. They stayed together now, always, requesting the escort of a bodyguard right up to the moment they stepped onto one of the underground trains, and then changing trains as swiftly as they could, several times, before returning home.

Santo, one of their regular bodyguards was laughing about it to Gina, but Gina didn't laugh. Instead, she asked the girls if they'd like to learn apparation. They jumped at the offer, and Gina said she'd enrol them in the next class, in three weeks' time. "There are evening classes for ordinary spells, too, of course, mostly for people who didn't do well at school, but if you didn't complete school for whatever reason, you might find them useful."

At their keen interest, Gina promised to get the details for them, and reflected that it might be a surprise for some of the less competent students to find themselves sharing classes with the famous Kasey cousins.

One evening, Najia made an exclamation of annoyance as she spilled the last of the milk.

"I'll go get some more," said Zoe. They were not in any real danger of being recognised in a medj area, and Zoe had never hesitated to walk the streets of Rome when she chose, whether after dark or not. She was Ania, wasn't she?

But the teenager's attempts to draw her wand were muffled by strong arms wrapped around her, and she was dragged into a dark alley for the rape. A moment's half freedom, as the second man pulled at her clothing, and she managed to get to her wand, but a punch on the jaw subdued the wildcat, and she dropped her only weapon. A man glanced in the alley from the brightly lit street, and hurried past.

Zoe's mind went to the best man she knew, and she screamed in her mind, _Bellamy!_

Bellamy appeared, and two men dropped.

Zoe stood erect, pulled her clothing straight, and said coolly, "Thank you." Her face was calm, and she hoped he could not see that she was trembling. Quickly, she commanded, "Help me find my wand."

Bellamy looked around blindly, and then admitted, "I can't see well enough."

She glanced at him, and continued searching herself. It didn't take long, and she aimed at the first man.

"What are you going to do to them?" Bellamy asked nervously.

"Castrate and disembowel them," answered Zoe, coolly.

Bellamy said, "Zoe, would you mind letting me deal with them?"

Zoe looked at him, and lowered her wand. Bellamy raised his own. The two thugs roused and stood up. Bellamy used a quiet, deliberate voice, as he said that they could never again make any attacks on any human or animal, could not assist anyone in attacking any person or animal, and could not even defend themselves if attacked. He also said that they would never again be able to function as a man with any woman or man who was not totally willing.

The men stood, paralysed, terrified. They would not be able to break those instructions. Zoe listened with more than her ears, very impressed.

Bellamy said casually to Zoe, "I think castration and disembowelment a touch extreme, but they certainly should be punished. You could give them boils for a few months, for instance, or maybe you have something in mind?"

One of the men whimpered. Bellamy said, still casually, "No loud noises."

Zoe smiled now at the terrified men, and suggested, "What about turning their muscles to jelly?"

Bellamy cautioned, "It should not be something that ordinary doctors recognise as magic."

"There's the Hiccupping Curse, no rest, night or day, until it stops."

Bellamy nodded. "That's appropriate, but put a limit on it. It's too cruel once they get old."

Zoe was loving her revenge. The medj bastards had made her afraid! She spoke as casually as Bellamy. "The Hiccupping Curse for one then, what about the other?"

"Well, we can't turn them into pigs or frogs, or someone might notice. There's Clumsy, or Trembling, or maybe the Crying or Fainting Spell - have all their cronies laughing at them."

Zoe smiled, "Let them decide?"

But the men only whimpered in their terror, and one already had tears running down his face. In the end, one would have boils for a few months, though the spell was non verbal, so he didn't know there was a time limit, and one would faint whenever he looked at a woman with lust. That was Zoe's idea. It was not a known spell, but Bellamy said he could do it for her anyway. Luckily for the man, that one had a time limit on it, as well.

They left the men, trembling, punished, but remembering. It wouldn't do them much good. What doctor would believe that they'd been punished for raising a hand to a witch?

"Najia would like to see you," said Zoe. "Come back to our place for a while?"

Bellamy agreed, but there was a detour as Zoe bought the carton of milk she'd come out for in the first place, then hesitated, and bought a large block of chocolate as well. She still felt quivery inside, though she refused to acknowledge it. They'd wanted to rape her, and she'd lost her wand, and they would have succeeded. She'd forgotten that she was only powerful when she had a wand in her hand.

Bellamy greeted Najia, who stared at him adoringly, but asked him about Pat. "I write to her sometimes, and she writes back."

Bellamy said, "I didn't know that."

Zoe, more aware than Najia that he might still be sickly, asked, "Do you think she might be worrying?"

Bellamy nodded, and conjured a ringing, brightly coloured ball, attached a message, tapped it with his wand, and it vanished. He used magic so easily, so expertly. But when Zoe asked how he'd done it, he hesitated, and said that he didn't know.

Zoe mentioned that she was glad she'd found her wand, and Najia suddenly asked Bellamy, "Did you ever get back your wand after Grandmother Riza hurt you?"

Bellamy shook his head. He was casual, and genuinely casual, as Zoe could tell. "Mary found me one in the storeroom. It was a spare."

The girls looked at each other. He didn't even realise his own loss. But the wands of Anirage became very special. A wand was matched to the individual by specialised wand-makers, and kept either on them, or very close, for the rest of their lives. Anirage were always buried, wand in hand. Even if the wand had been broken, it would be kept for the purpose. A broken wand could not be repaired.

Najia mentioned that Pat had sent them one of his books, as well as the spell-breaking books, and she held up the book with the horse and foal on the cover. Bellamy looked at it, and said that Pat was very thoughtful. Zoe looked at him suspiciously. Had he even seen what the book was? She felt his eyes on her, and she guessed she'd best not pry.

Instead, she asked for details of what he'd done when he'd 'destroyed' the family. He replied apologetically that he only knew what he'd been told, that he'd ordered them not to attack anyone and to want to go their separate ways. Also that their magic would become very weak.

Najia said, "When I was leaving, I was seen, but neither of the men tried to stop me, as I expected them to. On the other hand, a few days before, they whipped me."

Bellamy sat up in his chair, and Zoe felt his surprise and anger.

Najia said simply, "I didn't do what I was supposed to."

Bellamy said, "I'm very sorry you were punished." But he added, "All the same, I'm glad that I don't have a child growing up in a family where it's taught that it's all right to hurt people."

Najia smiled. "I thought I was being so seductive, dancing for you."

To their surprise, he said, "Bloody _hell_, you were seductive! I don't know where I found the strength to resist!"

Najia laughed, and blushed, and Bellamy also reddened.

Zoe asked curiously, "You're remembering more things?"

Bellamy grinned ruefully. "I think that's memory Number five. There's just a few to go!"

Bellamy stayed and talked with the girls for a while, until there was a dizzy attack, which he tried to conceal. Zoe knew, but said nothing. He was ashamed of his sickliness, and she knew that, too. At least, he didn't appear to be expecting to be laid low with pain.

Najia kissed him good-bye, but Zoe only said gruffly, "Thanks for coming," and turned away, even before he vanished.

Najia looked at Zoe, and asked, "More chocolate?" and Zoe accepted with thanks.

Najia said, "He's not as thin. Do you think he's better?"

But Zoe replied, "He's still badly damaged. He suffers terrible pain sometimes, he can barely see, and he's lost his wand."

Najia nodded sadly, and then smiled. "I bet _he_ could show you that lovemaking is not necessarily horrible."

Zoe said mockingly, "How would you know? You never actually had him?"

"No, but I bet he'd be good." And she tried again to persuade her younger cousin just to try it.

Zoe asked, "Is it still the flatmates?"

Najia chuckled. "Two men in bed are wonderful!"

Zoe shook her head. She couldn't understand how Najia could get pleasure out of the uncomfortable and demeaning exercise.

She dreamed about Bellamy that night, and lay awake afterwards, for a long time. She wondered if he could really show her that sex was all right. She put that thought out of her head. She'd been through it three times. It hurt, and even when it didn't hurt much, it was really quite disgusting. She would have been mated again, by now, she supposed, if she'd still been obediently at home. Would she have escaped if so many of her family had not been influenced by Bellamy? She and Najia owed Bellamy a lot, and that night she started making plans to repay the debt.

Najia, at breakfast, was frightened at the idea. Zoe described Bellamy's instructions to the two thugs, said that she'd listened, and those instructions could not be overcome. Even before she left, there were no men there not servants, except for Hicham, who no longer counted, and Haru, who scarcely counted either.

Najia listened closely, sighed, and agreed to help. Najia and Zoe were going to try and retrieve Bellamy's wand for him, but they didn't act until after they'd mastered apparation, in case a quick escape was needed. It didn't take long. Zoe was clever and powerful, and Najia had more talent than average. She would not be able to break a lot of the spells that defeated the healers if she'd been just ordinary.

The girls knew very well that they could be kept helpless and used for breeding if they were taken captive. And after Zoe's experience of so quickly being overpowered just because she dropped her wand, each of them provided themselves with two spare wands, short, and tucked discreetly into clothing. A person's own wand was best, but the spares might just save them years of imprisonment.

Najia was frankly scared, but determined. She would do this for Henry, whom she adored.

Zoe pretended not to be frightened. She would do this for the man she knew, who was human enough to fear pain.

Apparation could not take them more than a few hundred miles at a time, and the girls had to rely on medj transport. But then Zoe covered them both with the most powerful Cloaking Spell that she could muster, and they walked straight past the gate guard into the Compound in Morocco where they'd been brought up. They stayed out of sight as much as they could, knowing exactly where they wanted to go, but hearts pounding all the same.

Bouchra stared when she saw a crouching girl, and quickly spun her wheelchair, and addressed a guard, distracting him, as Najia flitted out of sight. The girls were not seen.

But how incredibly foolish! Bouchra watched, wand drawn, but hidden, ready to go to their help if required. Only when it was an extremely powerful individual was Cloaking Magic that good, and she herself, didn't notice them emerge from Riza's suite of rooms, but she watched as they left, moving again, just sufficiently to draw eyes to herself, and away from the stupidly brave girls.

She had no idea of the reason they'd returned. No idea why they might have wanted to go into the apartments of Grandmother Riza. She hoped they would never do such an insanely stupid thing again. She couldn't bear the thought of the pair being crippled, as she had been, in order to breed the babies that Riza ordered. She didn't even know who they were, those ones she'd given birth to. Should she take herself into Riza's apartments, and look for the records? She shook her head. None of them had come looking for her. What did she care who they were?

A few days later, she went into Riza's rooms, and had a thorough look at Riza's records. Iyad was her son, also Nazher and Kamaruddin. They'd all been Khatabi. And women, Lileah and Annilie. Meera, Anak, Chila. Hage-Ali. It was no wonder that Riza had kept breeding from her! Nearly all Khatabi! Bouchra smiled. She was the mother and grandmother of half the family! She investigated further. Zhor! She was the grandmother of Zhor! What had happened to Saeko's daughter by Ahjmed? Three children, one of whom was Najia.

The lady whom people thought of as old and useless, cried. It _was _her family, after all. Riza was gone. Did it matter if they were doomed to extinction? Bouchra wasn't quite sure.

No-one noticed her come out of Riza's rooms. Her Cloaking Magic was not as powerful as Zhor's, but Bouchra had the advantage that few noticed her at the best of times. But Bouchra was not the nonentity they deemed her.

_**x**_

Najia had spent six months in London in her early teens, and she remembered how to find the London Aniragia. She pointed to the wand-makers, and said to Zoe, "I was told nearly every English witch or wizard gets their wand here."

Madam Ollivander gave no sign that she was surprised at their request, treating it as a matter of routine. She produced a device from under the desk, placed a wand in it, and it issued a piece of paper. She read aloud, "Mellouks Wand-makers, Casablanca." The second was "Rozzis Wand-makers, Khartoum," but the third was an Ollivanders wand. She pointed to the ornate writing on the slip of paper that the device had produced, "Henry Bellamy, formerly known as Harry Potter."

The girls smiled triumphantly at each other. There was a small fee for the service, and the girls left the other two wands with Madam Ollivander for return to the makers. "All wand-makers have a collection of wands like this, usually ones that have been taken from defeated opponents."

Najia said, "I don't think Henry was given a chance to fight, the time he was defeated."

Madam Ollivander only grunted, but the moment the girls were out the door, she hurried to find her husband. "I think our Bellamy's going to get back his wand."

Old Ollivander smiled happily, though wheelchair bound now. "He's our great wizard. He should have his own wand."

"I think it might have been the Kasey girls. I wonder if they're really Khatabis." But their suspicions were never broadcast.

A few days later, the girls received a letter of thrilled gratitude from Bellamy. He said he hadn't realised, had not even known that it was important, but the moment he'd picked it up, he knew it was very, very important.

Najia had a separate letter from Pat, and she, too, said how very happy that Bellamy was to have his wand. _He keeps pulling it out, and stroking it, like it was one of his pets._

They knew Bellamy had pets from previous letters from Pat. It seemed strange to them, as there had been not even a cat in the Compound in Morocco, though there'd been a few caged birds and several goldfish ponds. Najia suggested, "Maybe the enclosure girls were like pets?" Two minutes later, both girls shook their heads. They didn't think so.

Najia read out her letter from Pat, and then pulled out some old ones. "Pets. He's got a dog called Trey, that follows him everywhere, and a spotted dog called Forster, who's quite stupid and thinks he's the same as the spotted foals, and there's always a cat or two around him."

Zoe said, "Can you imagine Adil sitting in an armchair with a cat on his knee?"

Najia giggled. She couldn't imagine any of their men with a cat on their knee. She continued to read.

Zoe was very fond of her cousin, and listened for her sake. But every detail of Bellamy's life didn't enthral her as it did Najia.

"He rides every morning straight after breakfast, and there's a bit of competition, because sometimes too many people want to go with him. She says that someone always has to be with him because he can become ill so suddenly. But it looks a bit silly if everyone wants to go with him."

"How many are there?" asked Zoe, pandering to her cousin.

"Their girls go to boarding school, but she talks about a boy called Oliver, who's a son of two employees, and Peter and Archie and Victor, who are employees, too. Also Kitty, married to Sidney Bourne, and their three sons."

"His employees don't seem to be regarded like our servants."

"She says they're all very fond of him, but not frightened to tell him what to do, sometimes."

"Our servants would be whipped if they told a Khatabi what to do. Even with us girls, they were hesitant to interfere, unless directly ordered."

"I wonder who's in charge now."

Najia had a joyful letter from Pat, reporting her husband's full recovery. _I think it was because he had his own wand back, but this time when he tried to raise the strong magic, he succeeded, cured the patient, and then cured himself, though he collapsed and seemed confused for a while. We just left him alone. He wandered around the place, and talked to his pets, and sometimes sat in his tree that he says is so friendly and helps him think. As far as I can see, he seems fine now._

There was a letter a couple of weeks later. _He says he'll never collapse again, but he's said that before, and I still won't let him go out without someone to go with him._

Najia always read the letters out to Zoe.

Zoe said, "She won't _let _him go out?"

Najia smiled. "I think he must respect his wife very much indeed."

"As you do."

"As I do."

The correspondence had developed. Now there were lessons in ethics for the girls, disguised as gossip of day-to-day events, and mentions of what Bellamy had said about a particular issue.

Zoe saw through them, although Najia did not. But Zoe was well aware now that what she'd regarded as normal was not at all.

Their evening classes in magic had been handy, and they had both learned many convenient spells, such as those for cleaning and tidying. Zoe, one day, asked how they practised things like the Spell of Compulsion. But even the mention had others shrinking away from her, and she quickly realised that it was something not to be said.

She remained curious, though. She saw the victims of many horrible curses come before her. How were they practised if one didn't have an enclosure of dirt-people? Or did they? After all, the Khatabi men had never spoken of it. Najia had never known about it, and she'd only found out because of her telepathy. Maybe every school had an enclosure of medj subjects, kept for the purpose, but seldom spoken of, and only for use by the senior students, maybe only the senior boys.

_**x**_

Najia and Zoe learned everything they could glean from the evening courses, and went on to a First Aid Course. Zoe was in trouble again, as she raised a hand, and asked, "How do you get enough practice at curing broken bones if you can't break the bones first?"

Their teacher concealed how disturbed she was at the question, and only said that healers saw sufficient trauma at a hospital without adding to their number. And like Pat, she too tried to instil a greater sense of ethics into the young girls.

This time even Najia noticed, but when they discussed it, Zoe said that she guessed it was needed. "What did that woman say that time about Grandmother Riza? _A foul fiend from a foul family!"_ She looked soberly at her cousin. "We _are_ from a foul family, and must make sure we're never dragged back."

Najia opened her mouth to protest, and then swallowed and closed it again. She didn't like to think that they had been so bad, but certainly, there had been no hint that prisoners were to be brought before them in order to practise First Aid.

Their lessons went on to Reproduction, and there was a mention of something called the Maria Spell. Najia asked this time, "What's the Maria Spell?"

Their teacher was calmly objective. "It's the painless vanishing of the hymen of a virgin girl so that she's not hurt the first time she has sex."

The girls were young, and the teacher said casually, "All a girl has to do is go to any healer or any nurse, she makes a simple spell, and it's done. It's routine."

Zoe said to Najia that evening, "Much better than pretending that it won't hurt."

"If a girl chooses her own man, and wants it as much as he does, maybe it doesn't hurt as much anyway."

Zoe shuddered. That horrible big thing put up inside a person. How could it not hurt?

Later, Zoe said, "I wonder if other families sterilise those they don't want to breed from."

Najia said, "I'll ask Pat."

She was beginning to ask Pat a lot of things. It was easier to ask in a letter when she didn't see her, even though she knew that Pat might have to ask her husband about some things. Pat always reliably answered, inserting the answer among the general chitchat, as if Najia's questions didn't leave her sometimes quite appalled.

Pat replied in a matter-of-fact way, and said that people in nearly every culture she knew of, chose their own mates, and had as many or as few children as they chose. Only that occasionally, in some backward cultures, contraception was discouraged. She was more frank than usual, and wrote that to mate young girls to men chosen by their families was an appalling breach of human rights, and she wondered if the mother's feeling for their babies was affected by what must often be very cruel treatment at the time of conception.

But then she wrote about Bellamy's new horse, that he was thrilled with._ 'His name is Madigan, and he was sold as a colt, for breeding, but it seemed he didn't like the life, and escaped, and was found two years later leading a mob of brumbies (wild horses) including at least three that were stolen from properties around.' _

Zoe laughed at the tale, and said that it seemed even horses preferred to choose their own mates.

Najia and Zoe started to feel more safe. There had been no more sightings of Khatabi-Richi, and they were beginning to have more faith that they could defend themselves. They practised their speed against each other, disarming, and occasionally paralysing or stunning. They knew the Filuah Kay Spell, and the Snail Spell, for instance, other spells useful for fighting that did not kill the opponent. They could use their magic to lift and make the other move around the room.

Zoe still itched to try the Spell of Compulsion, but now knew that it was wrong to use it on people, and when she tried it on a dog, it only bit her. They didn't lose their caution, and they always carried the two extra wands, just six inches long, hidden in their clothing, usually one in a sock or strapped to a leg, and another in an inner pocket.

In September, Najia finally confided to Pat just what they were frightened of. That their family would take them back, take away their wands, make them helpless with some sort of crippling spell, and use them to breed young ones for the Family. '_They'd want Zoe, especially, as she was so much valued_, wrote Najia. _I can do spells that others have trouble undoing, but Zoe's spells - I suspect that no-one aside from your husband would be able to undo her spells. She's too valuable for them. They would want her babies.'_

Two days after Pat received this letter, Bellamy leaned against a wall outside the building where Zoe was working and waited for them to come out. They hadn't seen him since he'd recovered his memory, and Zoe thought that even the _feel_ of him was different. There was something in his expression, too. But all the same, she was annoyed. Najia should not have told anyone.

Bellamy felt her annoyance, and said, "I won't interfere in your lives, but if you want, I can teach you Defence Spells, crio-magic, that can also be a defence, and I can maybe help with Zoe's telepathy."

Zoe said reluctantly, "I know hardly any crio-magic."

Najia said, "I think it's something they didn't teach the women very much."

He visited frequently in the next weeks, teaching them both to erect an instant shield that would protect against spells. "Probably not a Death Curse, though mine does. But if you're frightened of being taken prisoner, this is what you should practise, again and again and again, so that it's just there, when you need it."

He taught them other things, an instant apparation dodge, that he'd practised himself when he was just Zoe's age. "An enormous number of people were trying to kill me, then."

Anti-apparation crio-magic, and he had Najia do an area, and had Zoe see if she could ignore it, as he could do. He was philosophical when she failed, and admitted, "As far as I know, I'm the only one who can do that." Apparation with a passenger, although that difficult skill was usually only taught to aurors.

The girls were very grateful to Bellamy, and soaked up all he could teach them. He made them feel less exposed, less insecure. One day, he suggested they ask for a few days off, and once that was arranged, took them to London and showed them a hidden house. "I've owned it since I was fifteen. But it was owned before that by an evil family of wizards, and they've left an atmosphere. I never liked it much, but I've only ever told my immediate family about it, and it's forgotten, as well as having powerful enchantments that hide it. It's very, very secret, and you can use it, live here permanently, if you want, or just have it as a refuge in case of danger, as I do."

Zoe stared at him, incredulous. His own last ditch haven, and he was willing to give it up to Khatabis. Bellamy glanced at her, and started walking around casually vanishing and re-conjuring some of the furniture.

"How long do your conjures last?" asked Najia curiously.

"Long enough," he said vaguely. He was often cagey about his abilities, and Najia thought she might ask Pat, instead. Maybe Pat would tell her. Sixteen months was the record in Western countries, she'd heard. But Ahjmed's conjures lasted longer than that. It depended partly on the type of item, of course.

There was a comment made after he left one day. "He hasn't taught us any of those spells or curses that are only to punish, or to make a person feared."

"He hasn't, has he?"

"It's our Family. Were we really so very, very evil?"

But Najia just shook her head. She didn't know.

There was a pause, and then Zoe said, "It was a beautiful place, with the gardens, and running water, and every comfort one could want."

"And outside the walls there was dirt and heat and poverty."

"Japan, too. Japan was nice."

Najia said, "In New York, I became friendly with Annilie. She tried to seduce Bellamy at a party once, but she said he didn't even appear to notice her."

"Was she unhappy? Trying to escape?"

Najia shook her head. "As far as I know, the women were perfectly happy."

"I can understand the men being happy enough, but the women?"

Najia shrugged, and then offered, "I was happy."

Zoe admitted, "So was I until Hicham." But she didn't talk about her baby. She never did.

***chapter end***


	10. Chapter 10

_Notes__: Terms used: Wizardkind are Anirage, muggles are medj, or Medjkind, known by the Khatabis as dirt-people. __Khatabis__: Suma, (Leader,) Hicham. Haru, Bouchra. __Khatabi-Richi:__. Abensur, Enclosure overseer. __The slaves__: Carol, leader in Enclosure 2. Helene, leader in Enclosure 1. Valencio. __The escapees__: __Akila, Tristan's mother, Tristan, Bahiti & Hasina, the kidnapped girls. Younger children, Zahra, Najet, & Jiro._

_Chapter 10__: _

_Morocco:_

Back in Morocco, Helene and Carol, leaders of Enclosure 1 and Enclosure 2, were talking, sitting at adjoining tables, one on each side of the high fence that separated the enclosures.

"Eleven now," said Helene. "They can't be true Favourites of course, but they always ask for the last appointment so the woman can sleep with them, not just have sex. They talk more that way, and we find out more."

"Well done!"

"Brigitta's like a real Favourite, and as far as we know, no-one's tried to dispute with Abensur. She plays up to him, letting him strip her, and play with the breasts she's just starting to develop, but she's still a virgin."

"The other girls?"

"Still hate it, and are used by so many that it's very hard for them to become a favourite of a particular person."

Carol said, "The more men think their favourites really care for them, the safer we all are."

"It's survival. I had to remind them to be subtle, though. Pitono assured Ingrid that he hadn't heard any talk of clearing the enclosures, and in any case, Enclosure 1 was still needed. But when Marietta said something about it, all she got was a curt instruction to shut her mouth and open her legs. I think he tries to have a different one each time now, which I feel is not a good sign."

There were sixty-one medj in Enclosure 2, two men, the rest women, most blonde, from European cultures, as the men favoured these days. They hadn't been used for months, and there were no Khatabi children who would be needing them as subjects in the foreseeable future. Carol was acutely aware that they were expendable. Sixty-one of them, and not a single student to make use of them. She said, "Valencio keeps himself very inconspicuous. If he hit a guard now, I think it would be the end for us all."

Helene said, "We're doing everything we can, and trying to be subtle about it. For instance, Evita just happened to mention to one of them that Hilde is like a mother to her, that it made it so much easier to be a loving partner to him when she has the comfort of the older ones close."

"She's a good girl."

Helene said ironically, "Abensur thinks we trust him."

Carol shook her head. "Since all of us here started out as sex toys to be raped, I don't know how he thinks he could possibly be_ trusted!_"

"He's better than some I could name. Kamchatsu wouldn't hesitate, I suspect."

"There hasn't been a cull for nearly twenty years. I wonder if it's because they made so much trouble after the last one."

"Lucy and Eva say that they were told in New York that the others were sent to Japan, and in Japan, they were told that the others were sent to Morocco."

"Twenty-eight in Japan, and ten in New York. Just gone." No longer wanted, and so disposed of.

Carol sighed. No matter how hard Helene and her girls worked, the cull would surely come soon. What else could they do? Who, of the wizards, had the most influence, and how could they get to the ones with influence? It was her constant preoccupation - better than what sometimes was a temptation - to think that death was maybe not so bad. She hadn't had much in her life, just a happy childhood abruptly cut short. But it wouldn't be just her. It would be all the ones she felt herself responsible for. Carol kept working, thinking, worrying.

Valencio prepared weapons, using bits of glass, and whenever he could get hold of them, metal combs that he spent hours sharpening on a decorative boulder, well away from anywhere he might be overlooked from outside the enclosure.

Every now and then, the guards did a sweep with the akriktia, a magical device for detecting weapons. But Valencio had long ago worked out how to fool the akriktia. All one had to do was to think carefully that the weapon was not really a weapon. Just a pretty piece of glass for a mosaic, maybe, or a skewer for making a fancy hairstyle.

_**x**_

_Rome:_

In late November, what Zoe and Najia feared, was attempted. But Zoe propped to a halt the moment she stepped outside the building where they worked, and whipped out her wand. Najia was a little before her, and a stun spell hit her. The auror supposed to be on guard was nowhere in sight.

Zoe screamed in fury, which brought Santo out of the workroom, even as she parried the stunner aimed at her. She was far better prepared than the Khatabi Fighters had expected, and she stunned two, and Santo managed to get another, although the fourth one fled.

Najia was revived, but was white and shaking, apologising for being so useless.

Zoe said, "That's why we stick together at all times, we have to look after each other, because no-one else will."

The Italian aurors took their job a bit more seriously after that. The Kaseys had brought prestige and profits to the Italian DMT, as they now took care of nearly all the demand from all over Europe.

Three of their attackers had been arrested, and were imprisoned for the crime of attempted kidnap. Suma decided it might be more worthwhile to search again for the missing Khatabi mothers who'd taken their children, especially Lileah and Sagirah, who had eight children between them, and were young enough to have more. But both had an inkling they were being searched for, and both had an instruction in their minds that they must stay in their allotted country. They were not found.

Akila, who'd rescued Hasina and Bahiti, as well as three children, now had her hands very full indeed, as both girls had chosen not to return to their families. Neither of them were any more accustomed to having to do any work than she was, and now they were heavily pregnant. Her money was running low, and she was very worried.

She thought it a matter for safety to keep up with the wizarding news, and only wrapped herself up closely, for disguise, before venturing out every day to buy a newspaper. The day that Najia and Zoe's photographs were in the paper, she was thoughtful. There was the story of the attack. Motive unknown, but Akila knew the name, Najia, and remembered a tiny girl with oriental features. Could this be little Najia Khatabi, grown up? And Zoe looked pure Arabic.

She went to them for help, and although Najia looked at her in fear when she asked if they were Khatabis, Zoe looked at her mind, felt her need for help, and did her best for them.

The girls had begun to rely on the benign interest of Pat and Bellamy, and sent an urgent appeal. Bellamy came, and found their small flat very full. The pregnant girls, Tristan, and three children, Akila looking tired and strained.

"They're our family, and need help."

Bellamy cast his eyes around, conjured himself an extra chair, and accepted the coffee that Najia presented him with. Then he just listened to a story of kidnappings, rape and escape.

"They're desperate," said Akila. "If they cannot find members of the family to breed, there'll be none left."

Hasina put in acidly, "And a very good thing!"

Zoe said, "They've still got Tashfin, so I guess they'll just kidnap another girl for him."

"Why stop at one? I'm sure he could get as many pregnant as he chose, and the more they hated it, the more he'd enjoy it!"

"The servants said he showed indications of enhanced power, and was extremely valuable - the future of the family."

Tristan looked only at the floor. The great wizard had looked at him, and now he knew he was a rapist, as he'd never really regarded himself before. He thought if he was killed, it was only what he deserved.

One of the girls appeared, looking for a glass of water before returning to bed. She was twelve, and looked oriental. She was going to have the beauty of some of the Japanese/Arabic mixes, the same as Najia. Akila allowed her to have her water, as the child stared curiously and a touch fearfully at their male visitor, but she then went obediently to bed.

Once she was out of earshot, Akila said, in a level voice, "If Zahra was home, she'd soon be having lessons in reproduction, and soon after, she'd be mated. If she was not obedient, they would restrain her, or maybe use the Snail Spell, and have her mated anyway, only provided they have a suitable fertile male."

"Just Tashfin's not enough, or all the babies will be brothers and sisters."

"Well, Jiro's only four, and I don't know of any others besides Tristan."

Bahiti squeezed Tristan's hand, and said, consolingly, "Don't worry. You made up for it."

Tristan gave her a timid half-smile. He loved her, shared a bed with her every night, and wanted to marry her as soon as he could.

The following day, Bellamy provided each of the 'Peterson' family with passports, escorted the group to an airport, and took them to his own hidden house in London, the Black house. At the Black house, as soon as the weary party arrived, a pair of house-elves started serving coffee and rolls.

"This is Liktry and Kelta," said Bellamy. "I'll try and organise a human helper as well, and maybe a security guard."

Akila looked around at the house. "I can see this house has not been loved for a long time," but then she went to him, wanting to hug him in gratitude, but he was a man, almost a stranger, and she couldn't be that familiar. Instead, she just said a dignified thank you.

He smiled at her, "You're a courageous woman. The children owe a lot to you. You're to ask for whatever you need."

There was ample money now, provided by Bellamy, the money taken for granted by Akila, who took it as natural that someone else should provide for her. She did not take his continuing interest for granted, and took a great deal of comfort from it. Like a sheltering wing he continued to extend over the fugitives.

Bellamy's house finally had someone who cared about it, and it started to become the home it hadn't been for centuries. Akila found a new liking for interior decoration, and Bellamy one day smiled at her in warm approval. "I always disliked this house, but you've already made it a home."

Early in January, on the same day, an expert specialist healer helped both Hasina and Bahiti give birth. Both the babies were girls. The breeding stock now tucked away in Bellamy's house could have been the beginnings of a revived Khatabi Family. Instead, Bellamy visited frequently, and gave them the same sort of defence lessons he'd given Zoe and Najia.

Life settled down for the 'Petersons.' Akila felt far happier now, and the girls adored their babies. Tristan, in spite of his youth, acted as if they were both his children, and Hasina smiled on him. She didn't want her daughter growing up without something like a loving father.

Zahra Khatabi, called Patricia Peterson, started at Hogwarts, the boarding school attended by almost every Aniragi child of Britain, between the ages of eleven and eighteen. Hogwarts had magical protections, designed to protect the children from harm, as well as more mundane precautions, such as security guards and unclimbable walls. Zahra was prohibited from leaving the grounds, even on approved school excursions. She did not complain, made friends, and started to relax, feeling confident and secure in her new life.

Hasina, Tristan and Bahiti were also still of school age, but they could hardly take their babies to Hogwarts. Instead, Bellamy approached a descendant of his, Hila Bancroft, who ran a tiny day school in London. With the addition of the 'Petersons,' there would be just twelve students from four families. Two brothers were in wheelchairs, and retarded besides. Of the second family of five, one was slow, but two girls very bright. It was an assortment of children with differing needs, and Hila made sure they were catered for. It was a very good school, but expensive.

Bellamy organised it all, even providing a nursemaid and two security guards. Hila was warned to be careful, not boast about any possible enhanced power that any of the students might exhibit, or even talk about two young girls with babies.

They would start at the beginning of September, Bahiti in sixth year, Hasina in seventh. Akila was invited to meet the other mothers at the end of school year party in late June. In general discussion it was mentioned that the fees were very high, but well worth while just to keep their children close. Violet said she had no choice. Hogwarts might have been a wonderful place, but was not designed for children with special needs.

It was only then that Akila started to think about how much they were costing Bellamy. All their living expenses, all the school fees, wages of security guards, a nursemaid, and a housekeeper. She went and spent more of his money on a special present for him, and sent it to him for his birthday. It was expensive, too, an original Clare de Silva painting of a mare and foal, because Zoe said he liked horses.

_**x**_

Najia and Bahiti kept in close touch, with frequent letters. Najia still maintained a regular correspondence with Pat, as well, especially now that Bellamy seemed satisfied with their Defence skills, and no longer visited as frequently.

Zoe asked the aurors about the schooling, leading them, and listening to minds. There was no suggestion that schools might keep collections of dirt-people, and no suggestion that spells were ever practised on medj, whether prisoners or not.

They never spoke of the Khatabi enclosures, especially not to Bellamy. What if he was rash enough to try and rescue them? It had taken him three and a half years to recover from Riza's revenge. And anyway, it was only a few score of dirt-people.

In August, a scandal erupted, with Bellamy at the centre of it. It started in Britain, when Bellamy put his name to a paid announcement that appeared in the main wizarding newspaper, plus a couple of lesser known ones. That medj-born Anirage were often the result of rape or seduction followed by memory change. Sometimes it was rape with the help of the Spell of Compulsion. That some of the culprits left numerous children being raised by different medj families, which meant that there was a risk of brothers marrying sisters. That medj-born should not have a child with another medj-born without either seeing Bellamy, who could tell from the feel of a person whether they were closely related, or going to a medj doctor and having DNA tests, which could give the same information.

The scandal quickly spread to Italy. The aurors, Santo and Luke, were indignantly castigating Bellamy for spreading such filth.

Zoe and Najia were appalled at the allegations. Mixing the blood of dirt-people with that of Anirage! Half-breed babies! Somehow it never occurred to them that Pat and Bellamy's three daughters must also be 'half-breeds.'

They asked Gina if it was true. Gina said of course it was not true. Medj-born children just happened sometimes.

"That's right," chimed in Santo. "It just happens sometimes, and should not be talked about."

Najia asked, "If it just happens sometimes, why should it not be talked about?"

Santo looked away from Zoe's penetrating eyes. The aurors were supposed to prevent the abuse of medj, but it was very common, and very difficult to prevent. If a woman's memory was changed afterwards, she may not know that anything had happened, though some were bound to suspect. A minor cleaning spell helped.

Najia and Zoe had a few things to think about. That sometimes medj interbred with Anirage, that medj women were sometimes raped by wizards - and not just the inmates of enclosures, providing a service. A needed service? And this thing about needing to know whether a man and woman were closely related. Why was that a problem? They knew that Pat and Bellamy were in Australia for a few weeks, but Zoe said that Najia should ask Pat.

The scandal spread further in the next weeks. There were the news articles, headlines such as _Wizardry's greatest shame,_ and _An error of judgment,_ and even, _Bellamy balmy?_ There was a condemnatory article naming Bellamy's known illegitimate children, three of them, a girl and two boys. And two were by medj mothers. It shocked them both.

There was an announcement from the DMT, too, asking Anirage _not _to go to medj doctors for DNA tests. Anirage was a subspecies of humankind, and were not the same as Medjkind. Too many people with the same oddities in their DNA could cause curiosity.

Najia had her answer from Pat, finally, interspersed among the usual trivia. Henry was deeply immersed in an invention he called the Reya. He'd horrified his Sydney hosts by going swimming every day, even when the weather was cool. He'd taken a deep interest in a new wizarding school that had opened in Melbourne. That closely related people should not have children together because there was a much higher likelihood of deformity or retardation.

Najia read the letter to Zoe, not looking at her. Zoe's face was stony. So that was why little Jalloun had not been quite right. She'd been mated to an uncle. Najia went to her, and held her in her arms, and tough Zoe broke, and cried bitterly for her lost baby.

There was more information in Pat's next letter. Henry was very unpopular, and security measures had been upgraded. He'd seen many people who'd come to him for help. That one wizard in Britain had been crowing to himself about having _forty-five children_, none of whom he'd had to support.

That Henry was now working on an invention that would tell if two people were closely related, and that he had all his staff ducking for cover whenever they saw him, as he kept wanting blood samples. And she sent a slim book, entitled _Line-breeding in dogs,_ with the information that inbreeding was very risky, but could enhance desirable features as well as undesirable features.

After reading the book, Zoe looked at Najia. "That was what Grandmother Riza was doing, trying to enhance the features that she wanted, like extra power, and ignoring the risk of babies that were stillborn or deformed. She caused Jalloun's slowness, and then killed him for it."

"Everyone here seemed to know about that without being told."

"It's like apparation. Our education had holes."

A couple of months later, London's wizarding newspaper, which Najia still bought, carried the headlines, _McMillan Murdered?_ The subheading almost blatantly accused Henry Bellamy of killing their Dachier. Known to be able to work magic without a wand. Known that McMillan sent an uninvited visitor to his home. Was he so arrogant that he could ignore the law?

Najia said loyally, "I bet he didn't do anything to the man!"

But the next time they worked, Santo remarked, "I always said he was out of control!"

Zoe looked at him, and said, very coldly, "Only because you once raped a medj woman and feel guilty about it!"

Santo whipped out his wand, and Zoe replied by whipping out her own. Zoe warned, "Don't forget how hard my spells are to remove!"

Slowly, deliberately, Santo pocketed his wand, and turned his back.

Zoe had not yet learned to hide that she could know what other people were thinking. She still didn't take much notice of Ethics of Telepathy, either, in spite of what Pat had to say about it. The next day, it was a female auror that came into the workroom, and another woman who guarded outside.

Najia didn't notice an advertisement in the same issue. It was for Bellamy's new invention, the Dolfus device that would tell people how closely related they were. Closer to Christmas, the Italian newspapers carried a large article about the new service available from healers.

Zoe said, "We've always called ourselves cousins. I wonder how close we are really."

Sidonia did the test for them, and said that they were as close as full sisters.

Zoe looked doubtful, but Najia hugged her. "I always said we were like sisters!"

They'd worked as spell-breakers for two years now, and neither Sidonia nor Gina knew their background. Indirect questions were evaded, and Santo's direct question to Zoe once, had been met with a cold stare.

_**x**_

Najia and Zoe joined Akila and the children for Christmas, and they all had their Christmas tree, and exchanged gifts on Christmas Eve, just before dinner. They regarded themselves as family - the Kaseys and the Petersons. And all of them still relied on the benign interest of Henry Bellamy, though Zoe preferred not to admit it. He visited mid-morning Christmas Eve, laden with presents for each of them, right down to the babies, who would soon be a year old.

In January, Bahiti wrote to Najia that Jiro was being a problem. Jiro was five now, and appeared to have the streak of cruelty that ran in the family. '_He doesn't try it with us, but was picking on the house-elves. Anyway, they consulted with Bellamy, who they still obviously regard as their real owner, and he said to punish if they were hurt. It horrified me to begin with - after all, they're only house-elves, less than medj! But when I think about it, I do not want Jiro to be as cruel as his sire probably was. We think he's probably closely related to Tashfin, maybe a brother or half brother. He looks more and more like him as he gets older.' _

Zoe remarked, when Najia read out the letter, "Probably, if I'd stayed, and I would have stayed, if not for Jalloun, it would have been Tashfin mated to me next."

"They said he was vile. Hasina would still kill him if she could, Bahiti says."

"But that _house-elves_ should presume to punish a wizard, even if only a child? It seems all wrong to me!"

Bahiti's next letter reported that Jiro no longer tried to bully the house-elves.

_**x**_

_Morocco:_

Carol and Helene were gleeful. Hicham had kept right away from the dirt-people ever since Ingrid had beaten him with a shoe. The medj knew about that, though the wizards didn't. It had been before they'd heard the whisper that some of the Khatabis had been 'meddled with.' But now Mariabella shared a bed with him almost every night, his own bedroom, too, not just one of the working bedrooms.

Hicham was humble these days, but he was still a Khatabi, while Abensur was only Khatabi-Richi, and so was Ryuichi, the manager. Hicham, if he knew in time, might be able to stop the Khatabi-Richi deciding to close down Enclosure 2. Mariabella had been his Favourite before he left for New York, and the ploy had been that she missed him, and wanted to belong to him again.

"He's not like he used to be at all," she told Helene. "He was often rough and impatient - not particularly cruel, but not gentle. Now he's very, very gentle, and if I make the slightest sign of reluctance, he pulls away straight away."

The medj knew a lot more about what had happened to the Family than Suma would have expected. But Suma tried never to think about the people in the Enclosures. She didn't like that they kept so many medj prisoners, but they couldn't be freed, so what could she do?

Maybe one day her position as leader would be secure enough to order that no new girls should be taken - ever. They could gradually die out then. It would be a relief when they were no longer there.

_**x**_

_Rome:_

In May, Najia was reading another of Pat's letters to Zoe. Pat described Bellamy's work with what she referred to as 'the refugees.' A farm-load of stock, severely neglected for years, the situation only discovered after the suicide of the widowed farmer. Five hundred sheep, donkeys, horses, cattle. Pitifully thin, weak, and half wild as it had been so long since they'd been handled.

Najia and Zoe didn't know animals, and the care of them was foreign to their experience. Pat wrote, _'__It's funny to watch him sometimes. There's always a couple of dogs at his heels, sometimes more, often a cat or two, frequently a horse, and I wouldn't be surprised if there's not soon to be a dozen sheep and two donkeys!' _

Pat referred to the human refugees, as well. Henry had called in the other day, '_He thinks Najet might have telepathy, which can only help keep them safe.'_ The letter continued with more lively talk, her affection for her Henry obvious as she described the way he hauled every person over to admire the new foal of his Bess. _'__He calls her Fairy Floss, because, he says, she's so tiny and light and like something without substance, but yet sweet__.'_

She finished by saying that she was going to a concert with Margaret, who used to work for them, but then married the local lord. '_Funny to think that if she has a boy, her baby will eventually be Lord Lockwood, a Duke.' _

The next day, Najia's English newspaper, always received a couple of days late, had the headlines. '_Pat Howard killed in car accident.'_

"She's dead," Najia said to Zoe, blankly. "I can't believe it."

Zoe said, "He must be devastated!"

Najia said shakily, "I know I hardly knew her, except by letter, but she was like a mother."

Zoe nodded, and her eyes, too, had tears. "Like a mother."

Their letter of sympathy was answered by the secretary, who thanked them, and said that Bellamy was away, out of touch.

Zoe and Najia felt suddenly exposed, vulnerable, but Zoe reminded Najia that if they needed him, and called him, in their mind, he would hear, and come. "Like when those dirt-people grabbed me."

"Medj," corrected Najia. "Civilised people call them medj."

Zoe said, "Those two, they were dirt-people." Najia nodded. Maybe they had been.

A note a week later, advised of a change of name. Zoe commented, "Living so long, and knowing medj, he'd need to do that every now and then."

"How old is he again?" Najia asked.

Zoe smiled, "I thought you'd know that."

Najia nodded, "I guess I do."

It was hard to believe, and she didn't like to think of it much. But Henry Bellamy, now John Bellamy, was a hundred and seventy years old, and still looked to be no more than thirty, at the most.

_**x**_

_London:_

Akila felt herself exposed and vulnerable without the sheltering wing of Bellamy's presence. But Archie Barnes, his manager, called in frequently, and the two security guards looked after the ones at school, and she was assured that he would be back before the July school holidays.

The old Black house was a comfortable home now. Old-fashioned kitchen and bathroom had been renewed, extra toilets and bathrooms added, and every room lovingly decorated, and made comfortable. Akila took a great satisfaction in it. Even the neglected garden was now carefully tended, and fresh flowers decorated the home.

Patricia, (or Zahra) was happy at school, and the babies were a joy, both of them laughing and giggling when their young parents played with them.

Hasina was troubled about her baby sometimes. Nola had the brown skin of her father, Tashfin, and a similar negroid appearance. Jiro looked so much like him as well, and was acting as Tashfin might have acted, although at least, he no longer took notice of the house-elves.

She found him one day pinching Bahiti's baby, and locked his fingers together for a day, as punishment. But he stared at her, and it was Tashfin's eyes that looked at her. She hid her unease, and only spoke sternly, that no-one should _ever _hurt a person weaker than themselves, just because they could.

***chapter end***

_Notes:__ Khatabis: Suma, (leader) Haru, Bouchra, Hicham. __Khatabi-Richi, servant class__. Ryuichi, manager. Abensur, Enclosure overseer. __The slaves__: Carol & Helene, leaders, Brigitta, favourite of Abensur. __The 'Petersons:__' __Akila, Tristan's mother, Tristan, Bahiti & Hasina, Children, Zahra, Najet, & Jiro, plus 2 babies. _

_Disclaimer: Harry Potter & his world belongs to J. K. Rowling. By the time of this story, Harry Potter is known as Bellamy. _

_Chapter 11:_

_Morocco:_

Abensur was a happy man. Brigitta was fourteen, and he was sure she loved him. She was still a virgin, but nearly every evening, she snuggled up to him, naked, and sometimes even timidly touched him. She still wore the coloured wrist band that indicated that she was for his exclusive use, and no-one disputed with him. But he was saving it up, he wanted it to be special for both of them, the first time, and she still shrank away from him when he suggested it. He would wait until she was ready.

Ryuichi was the Khatabi manager, and one day spoke to Abensur. How long was it since the dirt-people in Enclosure 2 had been used? Two years? Was it worth keeping them any longer? How many were there, thirty or so?

Abensur said casually, that yes, there were thirty or so, and they'd be in use again shortly, as the healer wanted to train an assistant. And then he hurried to Zola, and suggested that she should have a couple of assistants, and that he had plenty of subjects for her to use for training.

Brigitta would be upset if Enclosure 2 were cleared. And she might stop loving him. He didn't want a slave who might be obedient, but who hated him.

Two days later, Carol's heart went into her mouth as she saw Abensur approach. There were no students. Were they to be killed? All sixty-one in Enclosure 2, maybe?

It was a relief when Abensur said there were two students for lessons in healing, and that there would be several weeks of straight work, and then probably one or two would be kept unconscious a while longer so that the students would know how to look after an unconscious person. "They won't be allowed to die, of course, though they might be thin afterwards. And none of you will be hurt, as when they break bones, for instance, they'll use a Twilight Spell, or a stunner so that you won't feel it. You'll just wake up, healed again, maybe a bit sore."

It didn't sound at all pleasant, but when Maliwan suggested that they might revolt, Carol said firmly that their lives hung by a thread, and they had to be as cooperative as they possibly could. "Even you, Bernice," she said sternly. Bernice always had to be paralysed before anything painful was done.

Jila was thrilled to be offered the chance to be trained in healing. Extra skills could be very valuable in these days of uncertainty, and she relished a challenge. There was little challenge in waving a wand and having floors and shelves dusted and clean. With the additional ones from Japan, there was overstaffing in several areas, and none of the more interesting specialties had been available.

Agneta was the other one who was to do the healing training. Agneta was a couple of years older than Jila, and had a stockier build than most Khatabis. She'd been working in administration, but confided that she wished she could have been a Fighter. Jila was astounded. Women weren't Fighters! But Agneta said that her sire was a German auror, whose two _sisters_ were also aurors.

Jila asked, "Aurors?"

Agneta explained, "Fighters, but in Europe. Supposed to make wizards behave themselves."

Jila left the subject, and said, "I can't wait." Agneta agreed.

They started that afternoon, with a general discussion about the training, and Jila learned for the first time about the enclosures of dirt-people - prisoners kept by the Khatabis. Enclosure 1, girls used by the men for sex, and Enclosure 2, used as subjects to practise spells on.

Zola used a calm, matter-of-fact voice. It was the thing she'd found hardest to accept when she did her own training. She warned, "It can be hard. They might be dirt-people, but they feel pain, and naturally, don't like to be hurt. But they know to be obedient, and we'll hurt them as little as possible."

She didn't tell them that they would need Enclosure 3 for the more advanced training, and that that would hurt the inmates very much indeed. She'd save that until they were more accustomed to the idea of using medj prisoners.

Agneta said, "We need healers, of course. It's an immensely valuable specialty."

Zola gave her a warm smile, and said, "Nothing gives me such satisfaction. The training is challenging, but it's so worthwhile."

Zola wore a red stripe on her left shoulder, a black stripe of competence next to it, and a stripe of diagonal dark and light green, which showed she was head of her section. Not that there were any other healers, but the post of Healer carried prestige.

Jila thought of causing pain to innocent women, but her eyes lingered on the red stripe of Zola.

Zola said, "Of course, when we do anything painful, whenever possible, the subjects are either stunned or under a Twilight Spell. They are hurt as little as possible."

Jila gave a sigh of relief. They wouldn't be badly hurt, it was necessary, and one day, she too could wear the prestigious red stripe next to the boring white stripe that denoted competence in housekeeping.

Jila had never seen any of the dirt-people from the enclosures, and was very curious. They started practical training the next day, when Zola took them to a classroom in an area they'd never been before. "Crio-magic," she explained. "You were probably not even curious what was here, never wondered why you never felt any urge to explore this area."

Jila and Agneta nodded. It was a men's area. Agneta said, "I did know of Enclosure 1. I saw a young woman one day, being escorted to the men's quarters, and a friend told me."

Jila said, "I've never seen one."

Zola explained, "They try and keep it discreet. There are back routes from the enclosures to the men's quarters, and mostly, they use what they call the working bedrooms, just across the corridor from the actual enclosure."

Jila looked expectantly towards the door as a guard entered, followed by ten slaves, filing obediently into the classroom. She looked at one, No. 43, in her fifties, she estimated. Grey strands through her blonde hair.

Mary did not meet her gaze, just standing, accepting. She'd been a slave for over forty years, and knew her place. She had no say in her fate, and fully expected one day to simply be killed, as she'd seen other superfluous slaves killed. Probably not painfully though. They hardly ever badly hurt an obedient dirt-woman.

The slaves were barefoot, and each wore a brief pair of shorts and a short-sleeved shirt. The colour was drab, dull brown, and there were numbers prominent, front and back. On each woman's right upper arm, facing the front, were the same digits, imprinted on the skin. The badges of slavery. Only dirt-people, of course, and they'd not be much hurt. Jila put away any thought of pity. She was learning to be a healer for Anirage, and some small sacrifices were needed in order to gain the skills required.

The first day was not difficult for the subjects. There were the basic spells the healers had to learn - Paralysis, Semi-Paralysis, Three-quarters Paralysis, Stunning, Twilight Spell, an Enfeeblement Spell, Calming Spells, Instant Calm, Deep Calm, and so on.

Jila and Agneta had long ago learned them in theory, and found them quite easy to put into practice. They were 'Control' Spells, most of them, but also could be needed when healing. A badly injured person did not always stay calmly still to be healed.

Jila was ecstatic with herself. Just one day, and they'd learned so much! It certainly helped when spells were put into practice.

They wouldn't be using the slaves the second day. They were to learn sterilisation, a routine duty of a Khatabi Healer. As the prisoners were already sterilised, they were no use to them for this. Instead, the healer and her trainees went to the nearby city, and waited in hired rooms, while Botan and two assistants brought people in for them. They'd be sterilised, their memories changed, and released.

Six women first, secured to conjured floor to ceiling poles, the same as those they used for the doomed inmates of Enclosure 3. The lesson proceeded smoothly, the subjects silenced for convenience. Struggles were not important.

The Nala Spell which vanished the womb, was one of those spells that was visible in the air, like the red streak of light that was the Stun Spell, or the green streak that was the Death Curse. The Nala Spell was seen as a sparkling, almost transparent whiteness. The subjects felt the effect as an unpleasant tingle, almost a shrinking inside them.

Zola had requested a pregnant woman, as well, and now explained that the Nala Spell should never be used on a pregnant woman.

"Agneta, use the spell on her, and see what happens."

Instead of a frightened silent whimper, and sometimes a hand that tried to go to the lower abdomen, this time the subject had her mouth wide in a silent scream, and collapsed, writhing in agony.

"So when you need to sterilise someone," Zola said, quite unmoved, "Check for pregnancy, just in case, as different spells are needed to first vanish the foetus, and then remove the womb."

Jila sternly reminded herself that if she wanted to be a healer, she could not afford inappropriate sentimentality.

Zola glanced at her, and said, "Each of our subjects will find either money or food in their bags. They will remember finding it."

Jila was relieved. The poverty-stricken citizens of Baradan needed money, and the suffering was comparatively minor.

The trainees went on to male sterilisation. "The Nroko Uviki Spell is quite simple, totally without sensation to the subject, and does not affect sexual function." The trainees learned quickly, and only six men were sterilised.

They went on to another spell, which rendered a man impotent as well as sterile, and they also learned the Castration Spell, which was also simple and painless. It could be seen that something had been done to the five subjects for that, and Jila looked at Zola, apprehensively.

Zola said to Botan, "In the other room, please." Jila decided not to ask what was to happen to them.

Agneta asked, "When would we need that?"

"Hardly ever. I've never had to do it myself, but sometimes when they get a boy for the enclosures, it's preferred that they become eunuchs. More docile, it's thought. But mostly, in that case, the enclosure overseer would perform the spell. Kosin always did it himself, I've heard."

Both young women were shocked, and Agneta said, "I didn't even know they sometimes have boys."

"Sometimes. There's one I've seen a few times. He's been very troublesome, but he was treated with utter barbarity, and I never really blamed him." She smiled, "Little devil! Just a kid still, in a great deal of pain, could easily have died or been permanently damaged from something that was done to him, and he still somehow managed to steal a pair of scissors from my bag, and attack Adil with them a few weeks later. Ruined his eye."

She glanced around nervously, but there were no witnesses. Hesitantly, she asked, "Please don't tell anyone. I don't want to be whipped at my age."

Jila and Agneta both quickly said they would not tell anyone, and both would make sure and keep potential weapons away from any prisoner they might have to treat.

Jila asked, "Are the healers called very often for the prisoners?"

"Not very often. Only when one is particularly valued."

"Are they often hurt then?"

Zola said, hesitantly, "I don't think so. Khatabi-Richi are not allowed to damage or seriously hurt a slave, except in the case of an authorised punishment."

Agneta asked, "The one you spoke of. Is he a eunuch?"

"His name's Valencio, and he wasn't when I saw him last. He was in his late teens then, and very much upset his owner by slicing through his own carotid artery. Barely survived. He's in Enclosure 2, so you'll be seeing him in the next few weeks, no doubt."

Another, far more tricky, lesson. The men and boys used were not supposed to show any external difference afterwards. It took a few tries, and one was so badly deformed that he would have to be put down as well. But finally, five men and seven boys were castrated, but showing no difference in appearance. They were released.

Zola smiled with satisfaction, and admitted that it was the first time she'd done that, just that Nusa'pei had asked about it once.

"For Valencio?"

"Presumably. Maybe didn't want him going on a murder spree, or trying to kill himself again. He was very much valued."

Jila couldn't help herself, and asked, "Who, of our men, want boys, instead of girls?"

Zola didn't answer. It wasn't something the women were supposed to talk about.

Jila was beginning to be pleased with herself. It was fascinating, and both she and Agneta were learning quickly. Zola commended them on their quick progress, and asked Botan to bring them several pregnant women.

"This is something we'd need seldom, but should know. How to vanish a foetus without hurting the mother. Then, if we need to, we can use the Nala Spell to sterilise her."

She smiled with satisfaction when the six women now showed flat tummies. "Well done," she said. "As you can see, it was quite painless."

Botan spoke to her, and she nodded. It was only prudent. One could be saved, left in a toilet with blood around her, and remembering that the tiny foetus had been flushed down the toilet. But Botan thought it too much trouble, and the six women were all killed. They were only dirt-people, and there were millions of dirt-people.

Back to the normal work with subjects from the enclosure the following day. Valencio appeared among the file of prisoners the next morning, and Jila looked at him with interest. He ignored her look. He was tall, blindingly good-looking, and wore permanent wrist and ankle cuffs, the right hand wrist cuff marked with colours. Zola had mentioned that a 'Favourite' of a Khatabi had a coloured wrist band, but that was only in Enclosure 1.

But Valencio was no longer used for sex, and his wrist cuff was coloured. She didn't understand why, though she understood the purpose of the three silver rings on each cuff. That was so that he could quickly and conveniently be restrained whenever needed. She said nothing.

During the next couple of days, the 'work' for the inmates began to be harder for them. Even when kept under Twilight spells or similar, when injured and healed, they would feel the after-effects of discomfort and weakness. There was a minor change. In place of some of the older women, Abensur started including Valencio in every session, at his own request, he said to Zola when she queried. The slave never showed aggression, usually just staring into the distance, as if indifferent.

Twelve subjects needed for helping the trainees learn to heal broken bones. Abensur provided two large jugs of potion for the subjects that day, as he said that, although healed, they might be sore for a few days.

"These ones won't be used again until next week," he told Carol, and ordered that the spa baths be heated ready for use.

Carol thought that it could be worse. They were kept under the Twilight Spell all day, and didn't feel it much when their bones were broken with a tap of a wand, and a muttered incantation.

The following day, another twelve subjects. This time, the breaking of bones was to be done with physical trauma, as Zola said it was more of a challenge that way. Jila saw Valencio restrained for the first time, clipped to a conjured pole by one of the silver rings on his right hand wrist cuff, apparently to his resentment, as the guard said soothingly, "Just that you may react out of instinct when confused. You don't want to find yourself in trouble, do you?"

It seemed that he didn't want to be in trouble, as he looked away again, assuming his mask of indifference. By the time the subjects for the day returned, some walked with pain, but there was not even a bruise to show how they'd been mistreated.

Jila was too much involved in learning to worry any more about how the medj slaves might be feeling about it. After the practical training was finished, there would be theory, especially potions. About eight months, Zola estimated, when she asked, and then they would be awarded the narrow red stripe that denoted healer.

Jila enjoyed the lessons, read books about healing every night, and bored her husband by talking interminably about her new interest.

"We did spell-breaking today," she told him. "Zola said that all the powerful Khatabis were taught that, because sometimes, it's only someone with extra power who can break the spells. Like Ahjmed. Only Grandmother Riza could break his spells."

Patek said, "A few Khatabi-Richi are like that as well. Yoweri, for instance."

Jila grinned. "He's terribly popular. I hear he's tried out all the single women, plus a few married ones. _So_ good-looking. And apparently a better lover than one would expect."

"Please don't be tempted. I don't want to duel with that one!"

Jila giggled, and promised not to be tempted.

Various types of cutting trauma, and the lessons with these went on for over a week. There was a lot to learn.

Brigitta mentioned to Abensur that so many in Enclosure 2 were looking ill, and Abensur replied that they had to be seen to be working, as the manager complained about the money it cost to keep so many medj. Brigitta pretended not to take in the implications, but reported to Helene as soon as she was returned to the enclosure.

Helene talked to her group about how they might get to Ryuichi. They didn't know him, and those in Enclosure 2 were looking dazed and unhappy, and she didn't like to ask if any of them had ever been with the man. Mariabella finally found out from Hicham. Ryuichi and a female servant were close, and that's why he didn't come to the Enclosure.

Helene consulted with Carol, but Carol said that everything ached, including her head, but that as soon as she could think again, she'd try.

Once the trainees started on pain relief, the subjects were not as obedient. To observe the effects of pain-relieving spells, pain had first to be caused. After the first day of this, Clarence tried to run, breaking away from the line, followed by Bernice. It did them no good.

Carol reminded them sternly that they couldn't afford to give trouble. Their lives hung by a thread. Bernice had tears in her eyes, but said she'd try not to run next time. Clarence merely nodded. They'd try not to run, but the pair of them couldn't seem to help themselves. They'd suffered too much pain in their time as prisoners, and were damaged.

It was a hard week for Jila and Agneta as well. To cause pain to unwilling subjects, some of whom were put under a semi-paralysis in order to keep them under control... But pain relief was a major part of a healer's art. It was necessary, and sacrifices had to be made.

Valenciohad a break for those few days. Zola explained to her students. "He's not suitable for this purpose because his reactions to pain are not normal. We'd have to use a pain monitor, which would be a nuisance."

Jila asked, puzzled, "What do you mean?"

"I think a result of exposure to too much pain when he was in Enclosure 1. No need to go into it, just that for this purpose, he's not suitable."

No need to go into it, Zola said. It must have been a Khatabi then. Ahjmed, maybe? Ahjmed had a reputation, but he was not the only one.

Another couple of weeks, internal injuries, then two more wearing days of review when the trainees ran through everything they'd been taught, and those in Enclosure 2 gave a sigh of relief.

Abensur told them that the trainees would be doing some theory, and that there would be another couple of days of review in four weeks, and probably another a couple of weeks after that. He thought they should be grateful. They might be hurt slightly, now and then, but his idea of the healing training had kept them alive a while longer. Ryuichi had suggested that if the closing of Enclosure 2 might upset the ones in Enclosure 1, then maybe both Enclosures should be closed down, and they could have all new girls in Enclosure 1.

Brigitta was carefully tutored. Luckily she was a clever girl. Innocently, she asked, as Abensur caressed her breasts, what other men liked. Did all of them like young girls, or did some like really big breasts, and she gave her rehearsed giggle, though the blush was real. Did some of them even like boys? And then she started giving names of those they knew. What did Yasuo like? Haruko? Ryuichi? Botan?

Abensur answered, not thinking of it, but feeling more and more stimulated as she questioned. When he moved over her, parting her legs, she stifled her reluctance, and made her breath shorter, pretending to want it too. He must not be alienated.

Abensur could have them all killed if he wanted, they were sure of it. Brigitta tried to pull away when she felt the pain of him in her, as every virgin girl did, but afterwards, she sniffled a little in his arms, and only said she loved him and wanted to please him. He cuddled her very close, and replied that he loved her, too.

Helene was waiting for her when he returned her to the Enclosure, watching as she gave him a loving kiss. But once he was out of sight, Brigitta turned to her and sobbed in her arms. Helene held her tight until her sobs died down.

Brigitta said in a low voice, "I was silly. I knew he'd do it one day, and I still hoped that one day my dad would come for me and take me home."

Helene had tears in her eyes. "We all wish that, my dear," and she rocked the child in her arms. "We all wish that."

Brigitta passed on the information gleaned. Ryuichi was over fifty, and so was his woman friend, but years ago, he'd been besotted with Valencio, and as he was the Favourite of Narzu-Han at the time, had pestered for another boy to be taken, Italian too, with black hair. He was only Khatabi-Richi, even if Manager, so his requests had been ignored.

Evita and Inge, the two girls brought in for Tashfin, had rarely had an evening off since his death. They were fourteen, both rather thin. Evita, Helene thought, looked like a boy, even a bit like Valencio. It was a lot to ask, but there were a lot of lives at risk. Evita looked at the floor, and nodded. The following day, Angini cropped her black hair short, almost like a boy.

Mariabella, with Hicham, was in a good position, as he spoke to the manager quite frequently. A casual comment, "I'm surprised he didn't pursue his interest in boys. Young Evita looks just like a boy. Like a beautiful Italian boy. You should tell him. Might make him better-tempered..."

Hicham hugged her, and said, "You've made me a lot happier."

There was a bit of hilarity in both Enclosures that night. Quite a few of them had lost their virginity to Hicham. Poor Hicham! He was certainly a changed man!

Helene, in spite of her experience, blushed as she suggested to Evita that she help her get used to penetration, as if she was a boy.

Evita said, in a hard voice, "I've had it like that, quite often. Botan. He likes to hurt, and it hurts more like that. Except that when I bled once, he was very worried. Maybe he thought he'd be in trouble."

"Did you tell anyone?"

"I was too ashamed."

Helene wondered if it had to hurt. She remembered Valencio when he'd been Narzu-Han's, and she didn't think he was being physically hurt, but there was another time when he'd been roughly pushed back into the enclosure, naked, and with blood all down his thighs. No-one ever spoke to him about any of that, but this was survival.

She asked Carol to get Clarence and Valencio for her to talk to. Clarence answered her question, "I was always hurt, sometimes very much, sometimes a bit less, but it always hurt."

Valencio was acutely uncomfortable, but this was about survival. He said, not looking at her, "If a man goes slowly and carefully, and if he uses small dildos, or maybe a finger for a while first, and also lubricating lotion, it need not hurt."

Helene was blushing more red than Valencio. "Is it worthwhile then, trying to get a body used to it?"

"You want him to want her, and think she wants him. It will be easier for her to pretend if it doesn't hurt too much. Certainly, it's worthwhile."

Clarence gave Valencio a very curious look as they left, but didn't ask any questions. If Valencio felt anything like as shamed as himself when he thought of it, he would not appreciate any discussion.

Evita agreed, and every morning after that, Helene joined her in the shower, and gently penetrated with a pencil, or a finger, until Evita agreed that she was getting better at relaxing muscles, and didn't mind it so much.

Hicham had to be prompted again, and then Ryuichi didn't do anything about it straight away. Evita was well prepared by the time she saw his name on her list for the evening. When he said what he wanted, she was able to tell him that she loved it like that, if only he'd go slowly, and use the lubricating lotion that was always available in the working bedrooms.

There had been a time when Ryuichi relished talking to those who'd used Valencio when he'd been just a boy who wanted to kill. He knew the care that Nusa'pei had insisted on and had already provided himself with three dildos, the first quite narrow. And as he gently prepared the girl for penetration, he pretended to himself that he was finally having the boy who'd been once so coveted.

He found the experience exciting and satisfying, and after the third time, Evita wore a pink wrist band, denoting that she was for the exclusive use of Ryuichi. Ryuichi stopped suggesting that the Enclosures were a waste of money.

_**x**_

_London:_

Bellamy's beloved wife, Pat, was dead, and Akila 'Peterson' worried that Bellamy might forget them in his grief. But he reappeared in early July, when school holidays began, and in her relief, she gave him a hug. He was a little surprised, and Akila was suddenly bashful, "Sorry. Just pleased that you're all right."

But Bellamy assured her he was fine, and admired the babies. He talked with Jiro a long time, listening as Jiro spoke excitedly about finally going to school.

Akila looked on with approval. Jiro was a worry to her, and Bellamy's influence could only be good. He said that if Akila gave permission, maybe Jiro could come with him sometimes, when he went out. Jiro beamed, and Akila gave her permission.

"Take me out, too?" asked Najet, but Bellamy said definitely, "Only medj places. You must not be found by those who want to take you away." The children had not been lied to, and the girls knew their danger. Najet nodded obediently, and said that she'd like that.

As promised, he took Jiro about a little, also Najet and Zahra, just one at a time, firstly as it was too dangerous to apparate with more than one at a time, and secondly because they would be more likely to be spotted if they went out in a group.

Jiro looked up to him. Bellamy was the most powerful wizard in the world. He must be able to do _anything._ Surely he must be able to fight anybody, and win. He could tell anybody just what to do. But Bellamy was nice to people, from Mr. Smith in the Joke Shop, to young mothers who wanted to show them his babies.

"But why?" asked Jiro.

Bellamy answered, "I'm very old, and they're my descendants. It's a bit of a tradition in the family to show me new babies." And he ruffled the boy's hair. "Besides, I like babies!"

Bahiti and Tristan married, a quiet medj ceremony. In a medj area, it was not too dangerous for them all to attend, even Zoe and Najia. There had been a lot of discussion about whether they could risk a honeymoon, maybe in a medj area. But Akila said it was too dangerous. The Khatabis were presumably still looking for them, and would very much want the baby girls. The Petersons lived a very limited life, and didn't know when that would change. They were still fully supported by Bellamy, and didn't know when that might change, either. Maybe never.

Bellamy regarded the refugees from the Khatabi family as his responsibility. 'Akila and crew,' as they were referred to, felt a comfort in his continuing interest.

Zoe and Najia were also refugees, and far more exposed. They, too, drew comfort from his interest, though independent Zoe refused to acknowledge it. They thought themselves good fighters now, probably as quick as any of the Khatabi Fighters, and definitely as powerful. They practised every day, and Zoe was always alert. Her telepathy was a vital part of their defence.

She sat up one evening, smiling, and said, "Najia, Bellamy's coming. I can feel it."

When the doorbell rang, Najia was already there, seeing him too thin, but smiling at her as if he'd never been away. Like Akila, she hugged him. He hugged her back, and looked for Zoe, shaking her hand. Zoe was not a person who liked to touch.

Zoe made a stiff, rehearsed speech of sympathy, but he brushed it aside, saying that things just have to be accepted. People lived and people died, and that's how it was. But Zoe looked at him, and knew his desperate loneliness.

_**x**_

Jiro started school finally at the beginning of September, and raced ahead in learning. Akila wondered if she'd made a mistake keeping him home. Maybe she should have sent him the previous year. He was a highly intelligent child.

Hasina was nineteen, and was technically finished school, but the group was safer if they stayed together, and she helped with the younger children, and continued to take lessons in Defence with Bahiti and Tristan, in their final year.

Their teacher was Michael Bruce, who'd taken the place of one of the original security guards. He was highly competent, and had been an auror until he found himself sitting on the floor, staring at the stumps of his legs. Both feet severed and vanished. They knew the story - that he'd called for help in his mind, and Bellamy had appeared almost at his side, and given the needed help. And then the great wizard had done the impossible - he'd made new feet grow. It was impossible to restore lost body parts, but the loss was only minutes old, and Bellamy did it anyway.

"Couldn't walk for days," Michael always said. "They were soft and pink, adult size, but brand new like a baby. But I was hobbling within weeks, and only limping after three months."

And then he'd always say with a vast satisfaction, looking at his feet, and waggling them up and down, "Good as new now, but it took almost a year."

_**x**_

_Morocco:_

With both Evita and Brigitta marked as exclusive property, the other young girl, Inge, was being overworked, and getting more and more thin. Helene finally went to Abensur and requested that she have a few weeks holiday.

Abensur had Zola look at the girl, and Zola nodded. She should have a few weeks off. Jila and Agneta were both present. Occasional attendance like this was a part of the duties of a Healer. Afterwards, Zola discussed the injuries that could be caused to both boys and girls by rough treatment, and how to treat such injuries. "Not that I've seen many," she added. "Only Valencio, really. I was told it happens now and then, but that the permanent enclosure guards have training in such matters."

Jila said, condemning, "They have training in how to treat the victims of violent rape." Zola only nodded.

Jila didn't speak about it with her husband. Surely Patek would never do anything like that. But she declined when he suggested sex. Somehow, she didn't like men very much that day, even her own husband.

As well as studying, Agneta and Jila were doing a lot of the routine work that Zola usually did. Preparing and issuing potions for the aching bones of the old ones, though standard potions came already prepared from the potion-makers in Khartoum. Spell-breaking, when the men duelled, mostly only things like donkey ears and pig snouts, though once they had to go to Haru when none of them could undo the Semnor Curse, inflicted on Rafik.

Haru managed it, and Zola explained that it wasn't only the power of the wizard who'd inflicted the spell that could make it difficult to undo. The type of spell was also important, and the Semnor curse often caused difficulties.

An ancient wizard died peacefully in the night. Jila and Agneta prepared the body for burial under the watchful eye of Zola. They also learned the spells that would preserve the body, unchanged for months if required. There was a lot to learn.

_**x**_

Mariabella reported to Carol and Helene. "He agreed, and even asked the servant to bring two breakfasts from now on."

Carol congratulated her. Having the privilege of sharing a meal with her 'owner' was the beginning of a different relationship. Mariabella already wore a full skirt, brightly coloured, instead of the brief shorts normally issued to slaves, and Hicham had needed to make a request to the laundry for that.

Carol cautioned, "Go slowly, carefully, but take extra privileges, bit by bit. Then one day, if you're clever enough, you'll be able to tell him what to do."

Mariabella said doubtfully, "He's still a wizard, and I'm just a dirt-girl in his eyes."

"He's a wizard who cannot stand up for himself. He's lost his arrogance, and he needs you. Do it by inches, but try."

Mariabella nodded, "I'll try, of course. After all, the worst he'll do to me if he thinks me too insolent, is not have me as Favourite any more."

Carol said, "He's not very bright. We know that."

Mariabella nodded, and said, "I want to ask him to see the Healer - have his bad breath fixed."

Carol looked doubtful, and Mariabella sighed, "If only he didn't want to kiss."

"Can you stand it for a few weeks more?"

Mariabella agreed that she could stand it for a few weeks more.

Helene said, "If you have to act quicker then expected, you could remind him of Margaret. Margaret was his Favourite for years. Also Valencio. Valencio was never his favourite, but Narzu-Han liked to share."

Carol said, "Don't tell anyone else, of course. He never talks about any of that himself, never has. Just that we're talking about survival." She glanced at Helene, "I never knew that Hicham liked Valencio."

"All of the Khatabis did. And I'm pretty sure that Narzu-Han allowed nearly all of them, now and then."

Mariabella admitted, "It makes me feel sick, to think of Hicham using him that way."

Helene said, "They became fond of him too. Not just that. So if you hear that Enclosure 2 is to be cleared, talk about Valencio, and say that Hicham must not allow him to be hurt, either by being killed, or by seeing the rest of us killed. And say that Margaret is his best friend."

"Is she?"

"One of them."

There were complaints. Too many of the inmates of Enclosure 1 were with the ones who called them favourites. Loud comments were made that really only Khatabi were allowed exclusive use, though the 'favourites' usually had one or two appointments before they joined their men for the night. Only Evita and Brigitta were treated as true 'Favourites,' for exclusive use, plus Mariabella, of course, but Hicham was Khatabi.

More women were needed to serve the men, but Suma refused permission to bring new ones in. It was unprecedented, but Abensur consulted with Carol, six extra bedrooms were built, and six women packed their things, and moved back to Enclosure 1. They were not old, ranging in age from twenty-six to thirty-five, but had thought their days of acting as sex slaves were over.

Valencio gave Tasha a squeeze, and said how glad he was that she wasn't chosen.

Tasha was enormously grateful that Valencio was not called back into service now that one of his powerful protectors was missing and the other dead.

But he'd been very special to Abensur, as well, and although he could have been used when rendered helpless with spells, he would have been finally destroyed, Abensur knew. Valencio had always been something special, and even as a full grown man, there would have been a lot of demand. Abensur didn't consider it, and when it was suggested, reminded the man that Narzu-Han was almost certainly still alive, and could return.

Ariz shrugged, "I'd have taken the risk!"

Zhang would have liked to, as well, but that was more that he wanted to punish the slave for all those times he was insolent, and the guard had not been allowed to teach him his place.

Tasha suggested to her Valencio, "Let's have something like a marriage ceremony."

Abensur was not helpful, reluctant to draw anyone's attention to the continuing existence of large numbers of useless mouths to feed. The inmates devised a ceremony anyway, a double ceremony, as Clarence and Bernice also thought it a good idea.

Georgia and Adelbert couldn't go, as they were held unconscious in a separate, small enclosure, while Agneta and Jila learned the spells to clean beds, keep comatose patients clean, and learn the tricky little spell that got a little pure water into them so they didn't die of dehydration. The patients were starving, as Aniragi healers had no way of feeding a deeply unconscious person.

It was a good learning exercise, and the trainees were checking the patients every day, watching the continuing decline in the LV measure, as well as other indications of health, and of approaching death. At last, Zola said it was enough, the spell was reversed, and the starvation thin women were returned to Enclosure 2 to be nursed back to health by their friends.

Jila and Agneta were deeply immersed in theory. Zola told them that the next time Enclosure 3 was used, she'd ask if they could do some further practical training.

Jila was puzzled, "Enclosure 3?"

Agneta said, "I thought we were finished with the practical work."

Zola said, "Enclosure 3 is further away, the ones in the other enclosures don't know about it, and hardly any Ania, either. The inmates of Enclosure 3 are used by the men to practise the serious curses. It's because they don't like seriously hurting the women who've been their bedmates."

Jila nodded. Of course. She'd known there had to be something like that. Just preferred not to think about it.

Agneta asked, "What happens to them afterwards?"

"There is no afterwards for them when Fighters are trained."

Zola paused, and added, "We never speak about it to the other women, and, of course, not children."

That night, Jila asked her husband, "Tell me about Enclosure 3?"

Patek frowned slightly. The women were mostly protected from knowledge of unpleasant things, but Jila wanted to be a healer, and he finally said, "It's a regrettable necessity. We have to know the serious curses, and what you're learning, too, is very valuable. Concentrate hard, learn as quickly as you can, and fewer prisoners will need to be sacrificed."

Jila said, "They're only dirt-people, of course..." She would like to have thought that dirt-people didn't feel pain like Anirage did, but she'd been studying pain relief, not very long before. The dirt-people felt pain.

Patek hugged her. "Sometimes it's needed. I'll be very proud to be married to a healer."

"Right at the beginning, Zola told us that it was not easy to train to be a healer."

"A Khatabi cannot afford to be too sentimental when there's a job to be done."

Jila wanted to be a healer. She could not allow inappropriate sentimentality to stand in her way.

***chapter end***


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